RFK opens the floodgates on fluoride debate in Arizona drinking water
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The Trump Administration plans to advocate for changes to the drinking water consumed by roughly 4 million Arizonans, citing health concerns that most major medical associations say are unsupported by decades of science.
President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has said he will call for the removal of fluoride from public water supplies.
The naturally occurring mineral has been added to public drinking water in the U.S. since 1945 to improve dental health. Phoenix began adding fluoride to its water in 1990.
Dr. Elizabeth Walton, a dentist and clinical director at Risas Dental and Braces in Phoenix, sees firsthand the effects of poor dental health in young children.
Cavities can emerge as soon as children develop their first tooth, she said.
“Dental decay is caused by bacteria. Once you have the bacteria in your mouth and you’ve had significant issues with cavities, your mouth has been colonized by the bacteria and you’re never going to get it out,” she said, adding those dental problems can last a lifetime.
To combat such problems, the City of Phoenix adds fluoride to its drinking water at a cost of $582,000 annually. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated in 2001 that the investment saves Phoenix residents more than $22 million in dental treatments each year.
“Bad dentition results in bad nutrition, which leads to bad health,” said Will Humble, executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association.
Humble said studies show improving dental health has a range of benefits, from pregnancy outcomes to job prospects.
Fluoridation is widely regarded as a public health success.
“The CDC and the World Health Organization both identify it as among the Top 10 public health interventions both in the U.S. and worldwide,” Humble said.
According to the CDC’s latest estimate, about 57.5% of Arizona’s population—roughly 4 million people—live in areas with fluoridated water.
Opposition and Concerns
During the presidential campaign, Kennedy argued that fluoride is linked to health risks, including cancer and IQ loss in children.
His stance is partly based on a 2024 study from the National Toxicology Program, which found with “moderate confidence” a link between high fluoride levels and lower IQ in children.
However, the study examined fluoride concentrations of 1.5 mg/L or higher – double the federal standard of .7 mg/L used in Phoenix.
“It is important to note that there were insufficient data to determine if the low fluoride level of 0.7 mg/L currently recommended for U.S. community water supplies has a negative effect on children’s IQ,” the authors wrote. “The NTP found no evidence that fluoride exposure had adverse effects on adult cognition.”
The study also did not establish a causal relationship.
Humble cautioned against drawing conclusions from such studies.
He offered a real-world example to show why association studies can be misleading.
“People with tattoos have a lower life expectancy,” he said.
The tattoo doesn’t cause a shorter life span. The cause is actually certain risky behaviors that people with tattoos are more likely to engage in, lowering their average life expectancy, Humble explained.
Since 2010, at least 170 U.S. towns and cities have stopped fluoridating their water, including Bisbee in 2018.
Humble says the effects of removing fluoride wouldn’t be immediate.
“Mr. Trump and Mr. Kennedy would be gone and out of power by the time the real detrimental effects on oral health would be seen,” he said.
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