WASHINGTON – Robert F. Kennedy Jr. mentioned Saturday that former President Donald Trump would search to take away fluoride from public water sources as one in all his first presidential actions if he’s reelected, falsely suggesting that the compound is harmful.
“On January 20, the Trump White Home will advise all U.S. water techniques to take away fluoride from public water,” Kennedy mentioned in a post on X, previously referred to as Twitter. He claimed with out proof that fluoride in U.S. water is linked to a wide range of medical circumstances, regardless of research offering proof on the contrary.
Native communities have added fluoride to their public ingesting water since 1945. The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention described these public water fluoridation efforts as among the many top 10 public health achievements of the twentieth Century.
The American Dental Affiliation and the American Academy of Pediatrics have endorsed water fluoridation, citing research that present fluoride in group water techniques can prevents at least 25 percent of tooth decay in youngsters and adults.
A U.S. Division of Well being and Human Providers’ report earlier this yr did discover that very excessive ranges of fluoride in different international locations might be linked to decrease IQ ranges in youngsters. However the fluoride ranges discovered to trigger such dangers had been greater than twice as excessive as the quantity U.S. officers advocate be added to public water techniques.
Signal-up for Your Vote: Textual content with the USA TODAY elections staff.
The U.S. Public Well being Service recommends water techniques include a fluoride stage of .7 milligrams. The report discovered that ingesting water with greater than 1.5 milligrams might be a difficulty.
Kennedy has a protracted monitor report of selling well being disinformation, together with debunked theories connecting vaccines with autism. Final yr, Kennedy additionally claimed with out proof that COVID-19 was designed to focus on “Caucasians and Black individuals” whereas sparing Ashkenazi Jewish individuals and Chinese language individuals.
These feedback instantly sparked backlash, with critics saying they posed a risk to susceptible teams who had confronted racism and different bias throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kennedy ended an unbiased bid for the White Home earlier this yr and endorsed Trump. Since then, Trump has advised at a number of marketing campaign rallies that Kennedy may have a “huge function in healthcare” if he’s reelected.
Kennedy has individually informed supporters that Trump promised him management of the Division of Well being and Human Providers and its sub-agencies, although the Trump marketing campaign has denied that Kennedy may have such a job.
The Trump marketing campaign, reached for remark about Kennedy’s touch upon fluoride, didn’t immediately handle the comment.
“Whereas President Trump has acquired a wide range of coverage concepts, he’s targeted on Tuesday’s election,” marketing campaign senior advisor Danielle Alvarez mentioned in a press release.
Contributing: Marina Pitofsky, Savannah Kuchar and Ken Alltucker, USA TODAY
( headline and story edited by our employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
