Fortune By Beth Greenfield
Fluoridated drinking water has been hailed as one of the top 10 public health achievements of the 20th century by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Now it’s being called out by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—possibly on track to become head of health initiatives for the incoming presidential administration—as a practice that should be halted. He recently asserted that Donald Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office.
Over the weekend, Trump told NBC News he had not discussed the issue with Kennedy, saying, “but it sounds OK to me. You know it’s possible.”
On Wednesday morning, Kennedy spoke with NPR, noting on Morning Edition, “We don’t need fluoride in our water. It’s a very bad way to deliver it into our systems.”
Below, a primer on fluoride in drinking water, its history of controversy, and what the science says.
What is fluoride?
Fluoride is the chemical ion of the mineral fluorine. It is naturally present in trace amounts, according to the CDC, in soil, water, plants, and some food sources including plants and animals. It can also be released from volcanic emissions or as a byproduct of aluminum, fertilizer, and iron ore manufacture.
Once it’s inside the body, according to the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements, approximately 80% of what’s ingested is absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract, with about 50% retained in the body of adults—all but 1% stored in bones and teeth— and the other 50% excreted in urine. In young children, up to 80% of absorbed fluoride is retained, as more is absorbed by bones and teeth than in adults.
Why is fluoride in drinking water?
Fluoride serves to prevent or reverse tooth decay and stimulate new bone formation, according to the NIH.
In 1945, Grand Rapids, Mich. became the first city in the world to fluoridate its drinking water. This came after a doctor’s research on fluoride and fluorosis—the discoloration of tooth enamel from an excess of fluoride—and his hunch that safe levels might serve to prevent tooth decay.
The Grand Rapids fluoridation became a 15-year project, according to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, with researchers monitoring the rate of tooth decay among 30,000 schoolchildren; after 11 years, it was found that the cavity rate among Grand Rapids children born after fluoride was added to the water supply dropped more than 60%. It was considered a scientific breakthrough that could revolutionize dental care…
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