Kennedy calls on states to prohibit fluorinated drinking water

The Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., launched a tour on Southwest States on Monday by calling for states to prohibit fluorine in drinking water supplies, a decision that would reverse what certain medical experts consider one of the most important public health practices in the history of the country.

The announcement occurred at a press conference in Utah, the first state to adopt such a ban. The new state law is expected to come into force in early May, despite the concerns of public health experts who envisage the fluoridation of the water nucleus to the prevention of dental caries.

“This has no sense to have it in our water supply,” said Kennedy, echoing a position he adopted during the 2024 presidential campaign. “I am very, very proud of this state to be the first state to ban it, and I hope that many others will come.”

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which Mr. Kennedy oversees as a Secretary of Health, listed fluoridation as one of the 10 great achievements in public health of the 20th century. After the press conference, Stefanie Spear, Mr. Kennedy’s main deputy chief of staff, said Kennedy led the CDC’s Community preventive working services to study fluoride and make a new recommendation.

Mr. Kennedy appeared at the press conference alongside the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, who announced that EPA would re -examine research on potential fluorine health risks in water.

The current standard “was recently examined in July 2024, but many things have happened since July 2024,” said Zeldin. Examination of security data “would not occur, without secretary Kennedy,” he added.