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In late 2024, a federal choose delivered a landmark ruling: The EPA failed to guard the general public from fluoride’s neurotoxic results.
Decide Edward Chen—by the way in which, an Obama appointee—acknowledged what scientists have been warning for years: fluoride publicity, significantly in utero, is linked to decrease IQ and long-term cognitive hurt.
This could have been a turning level, a second the place fluoride lastly left “tin foil hat” territory and have become a mainstream public well being concern.
As an alternative, the dialog took a weird flip.
Inside months, RFK Jr. publicly took up the fluoride concern, and instantly, the controversy wasn’t about science anymore—it was about politics. The ruling didn’t change. The science didn’t change. The overwhelming proof remained simply as damning. However the second a polarizing determine entered the image, it grew to become simpler to dismiss all the fluoride debate as a conspiracy relatively than confront the information.
I’ve practiced dentistry for 41 years, and I’ve been questioning fluoride all the time. I’ve been known as a quack. I’ve been dismissed. That was advantageous—I knew the science would catch up ultimately.
However I by no means anticipated how a lot of a rollercoaster this combat would develop into.
The lawsuit that took fluoride to courtroom wasn’t constructed on hypothesis—it was constructed on rock-solid research, funded by the NIH, utilizing rigorous methodology. We had analysis displaying that prenatal fluoride publicity may decrease IQ. We had meta-analyses linking fluoride to cognitive hurt. We had years of toxicology reviews confirming that fluoride doesn’t simply strengthen enamel—it alters mind growth.
So why, after many years of science and a federal courtroom ruling, are we nonetheless debating this?
As a result of as an alternative of letting science converse for itself, we let politics determine what’s value taking note of.
Earlier than we go any additional, let’s be clear on one factor: This debate isn’t about fluoride in toothpaste or topical therapies—it’s about fluoride in consuming water. Fluoride utilized on to enamel is a distinct dialog; the priority right here is about fluoride that’s ingested, the place it may possibly accumulate in bones, the mind, and creating our bodies. It is a key distinction as a result of systemic ingestion of fluoride has vastly completely different results than topical software.
How We Bought Right here:
Fluoridation was launched within the mid-Twentieth century based mostly on flawed research that claimed fluoride strengthened tooth enamel. These research lacked correct management teams, ignored socioeconomic elements, and by no means investigated long-term well being dangers. Regardless of these shortcomings, by the Sixties, fluoridation had develop into the norm in most U.S. cities, promoted as a protected and efficient option to scale back cavities—with out rigorous scientific proof.
Briefly, fluoridation grew to become public coverage not due to strong, long-term analysis, however due to an assumption that slightly little bit of fluoride in water was innocent. Many years later, mounting proof means that assumption was dangerously unsuitable.
But, over the previous twenty years, high-quality analysis has raised severe issues:
- 2006: A Nationwide Analysis Council (NRC) overview discovered fluoride publicity may hurt the mind, thyroid, and bones.
- 2017: An NIH-funded examine discovered prenatal fluoride publicity was linked to decrease IQ in kids (Environmental Well being Views).
- 2019: A JAMA Pediatrics examine confirmed these findings, igniting pushback from public well being officers—however standing as much as peer overview.
- 2021: The Nationwide Toxicology Program (NTP) categorised fluoride as a presumed neurotoxin, reinforcing over 70 research linking it to cognitive hurt.
- 2024: Federal Decide Edward Chen dominated that the EPA did not adequately assess fluoride’s dangers, marking a turning level within the authorized battle.
The case towards fluoride isn’t hypothesis—it’s peer-reviewed science. Contemplate:
- Fluoride publicity in utero has been linked to a 3-5 level drop in IQ, comparable to guide publicity.
- Fluoride’s influence on IQ is comparable to guide—however whereas we’ve banned lead from paint and gasoline, we nonetheless add fluoride to consuming water.
- Fluoridated international locations just like the U.S. and Canada have comparable or worse charges of tooth decay than non-fluoridated international locations like Sweden and the Netherlands.
- A Harvard meta-analysis discovered that fluoride accumulates within the mind and alters neurodevelopment, with potential long-term penalties.
But, regardless of these findings, the CDC and EPA proceed to insist that fluoridation is protected—with out addressing the science.
The media’s playbook is predictable: when a controversial determine takes up a difficulty—even one backed by peer-reviewed science—the controversy will get buried below accusations of “misinformation.”
- When RFK Jr. spoke out towards fluoride, it grew to become simpler to dismiss all the dialog as conspiracy relatively than interact with the analysis.
- In right this moment’s media panorama, reality is commonly judged not by proof, however by who’s saying it.
- Regulators just like the EPA fought tooth and nail towards the lawsuit that led to Decide Chen’s ruling, regardless of their authorized obligation to guard public well being.
- Public well being establishments concern reputational harm—admitting fluoride is dangerous would imply admitting many years of flawed steering.
The end result? Silence from main well being companies, regardless of a federal courtroom ruling confirming the EPA’s failure to behave on fluoride’s dangers.
The fluoride debate is not only about dental well being. It’s a check case for the way public well being establishments deal with inconvenient science. When legit issues are ignored or politicized, public skepticism grows—not simply towards fluoride, however towards all public well being suggestions.
The fluoride debate isn’t nearly cavities—it’s about whether or not we worth science over dogma. With mounting proof of hurt and a federal courtroom ruling difficult many years of coverage, it’s time for accountability.
If public well being officers gained’t admit their errors, then it’s as much as the general public to demand motion—earlier than one other era’s IQ turns into collateral harm.
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