Dental professionals have praised the ability of fluoride to reduce tooth decay, but some say it’s come at a very high cost to society. Many people in government and regulatory groups have turned a blind eye to the damages fluoride has wrought to some people.
Under the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA), several activist organizations petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2016 to end the addition of fluoridation chemicals into US drinking water due to fluoride’s neurotoxicity. The EPA denied the petition. Under TSCA, citizens are allowed to petition the EPA to evaluate whether a chemical presents an unreasonable risk to public health or susceptible populations.
The federal National Toxicology Program, an arm of the Department of Health and Human Services, did a systematic review of the research and concluded that yes, fluoride is a neurotoxin. The NTP started this review in 2016 and released its final report in May 2024. This review found there was indeed a large body of research evidence that confirmed fluoride exposure is “consistently associated with lower IQ in children.”
Last month, after seven years weaving its way through the court system, on September 24, 2024, Senior Judge Edward Chen of the US District Court of the Northern District of California ruled that water fluoridation does present an “unreasonable risk” to the health of children. The EPA will now be required to regulate fluoride as a health hazard.
Read the rest of my blog post on my Queen of Dental Hygiene website about what has developed.
