The Environmental Safety Company (EPA) will rethink the well being impacts of fluoride in consuming water — taking what may very well be an preliminary step towards new nationwide limits or a ban on the substance.
An EPA press launch stated Monday that the company would “expeditiously review new scientific information on potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water” and that doing so will inform any potential strikes to limit fluoride underneath the Secure Consuming Water Act.
“Without prejudging any outcomes, when this evaluation is completed, we will have an updated foundational scientific evaluation that will inform the agency’s future steps to meet statutory obligations under the Safe Drinking Water Act,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin stated in a written assertion.
In September, a decide dominated that the EPA should “engage with a regulatory response” to fluoride, although it didn’t dictate what that response ought to be.
It’s not instantly clear whether or not Zeldin’s announcement differs from work the company would have in any other case performed in response to that order.
However the administrator credited advocacy from Well being and Human Companies Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for bringing in regards to the overview.
“Secretary Kennedy has long been at the forefront of this issue. His advocacy was instrumental in our decision to review fluoride exposure risks and we are committed to working alongside him, utilizing sound science as we advance our mission of protecting human health and the environment,” Zeldin stated.
Fluoride is deliberately added to consuming water to stop tooth decay. About 200 million Individuals drink water with added fluoride.
Whereas it’s clear that fluoride is nice for tooth, some latest research have linked it to decrease IQ. Notably, the Division of Well being and Human Companies’s Nationwide Toxicology Program present in August that increased ranges of fluoride publicity are linked to decrease IQs in kids.
Nonetheless, well being associations together with the the American Academy of Pediatrics stood by suggestions in favor of including fluoride to water and toothpaste even in mild of the discovering.
The pediatrics group stated that amongst different points, the toxicology program neglected research that didn’t discover a hyperlink between fluoride and IQ. And earlier in 2024, the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention stated in a press release that “expert panels … have not found convincing scientific evidence linking community water fluoridation with any potential adverse health effect,” together with low intelligence.
The eye paid to potential impacts of fluoride has grown in recent times amid the rise of Kennedy’s Make America Wholesome Once more motion.
Within the EPA’s announcement, the company cited the August 2024 toxicology program discovering in its determination to revisit the well being impacts of fluoride, which had been beforehand assessed by the EPA in July 2024. EPA says its overview shall be carried out “in coordination” with Kennedy and HHS.
