EPA to review scientific information on fluoride in drinking water

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on April 7, 2025, the decision to review new scientific information on potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water.

The announcement came during an event in Salt Lake City, Utah, where U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide.

EPA stated in a press release that this renewed scientific evaluation is an essential step that will inform agency decisions on the standard for fluoride under the Safe Drinking 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,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in a press release.

The EPA will conduct a review of scientific findings and additional peer reviewed studies to prepare an updated health effects assessment for fluoride that will inform any potential revisions to the agency’s fluoride drinking water standard.

EPA’s review is being done in coordination with Secretary Kennedy and HHS.

According to the Associated Press, Secretary Kennedy cannot order communities to halt fluoridation, but he can direct the CDC to stop recommending it and work with the EPA to change the standard.

This announcement follows Utah’s decision in March 2025 to ban fluoride in public drinking water.