For decades, drinking water fluoridation opponents were often portrayed as a fringe element and conspiracy theorists, but a federal ruling in the US may put an end to the practice and marks a pivotal point in their campaign to convince the public and policymakers of the substance’s dangers for infants’ developing brains.
Armed with a growing body of scientific evidence pointing toward fluoride’s neurotoxicity, public health advocates say the legal win shows they are overcoming “institutional inertia” and the unwillingness of federal public health agencies to admit they may have been wrong.
The order last week requiring the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to begin the process of strengthening fluoride regulations represents a “landmark” legal win that has long been in the making, said Stuart Cooper, director of the Fluoridation Action Network advocacy group.
Fluoride in drinking water at twice safe limit linked to lower IQ in children.
“After many years of them ignoring us and defending fluoridation, we had an opportunity to get a fair and balanced adjudication in courts,” Cooper said.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/04/fluoridation-water-epa-risk-assessement
There was a water superintendent who resigned when he was caught lowering fluoride levels over a period of ten years in Richmond, Vermont, because he believed fluoride posed unacceptable risks to public health.
Buffalo, NY, city officials have been quietly doing everything they can in the last 9 years to NOT return to fluoridating their water. They quietly stopped the practice in 2015. Parents and dentists filed a class action lawsuit against the city to force them to start fluoridating city water again after the incidence of cavities grew noticeable. The city promised to make the necessary changes to start fluoridation again but, every year, the water inspector reports that there’s no added fluoride in the water. Mayor Byron Brown is a Democrat but has found support on various issues from staunch Republicans. Maybe he knew about the harms of fluoride to developing brains and wanted to protect his constituents, 61% of which are people of colour. Maybe the new reports about fluoride will end both the plan and the debate.
Kudos to the leaders with a conscience who risked a lot to do the lesser harm between brain damage and cavities.