Lawyers for the Biden administration said Friday they will seek to challenge last year's court defeat that could have provided the Trump administration with a ban on its use. Fluoride in water.
The Biden administration filed notice in federal district court in San Francisco on Friday, just days before the Jan. 21 appeal deadline.
While last year's ruling stopped short of ordering the Environmental Protection Agency to ban water fluoridation, opponents said it opened up a “clear legal path” to giving the federal government the power to force local governments to stop adding chemicals to their water supplies.
Public health experts have long regarded fluoridation as one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. The American Dental Association said last year that research shows it is a “safe, beneficial and cost-effective public health measure” to prevent tooth decay.
District Court Judge Edward Chen ruled last year that there was evidence that fluoride “is dangerous at doses too close to the levels found in U.S. drinking water,” but stopped short of ordering the EPA to ban the practice.
The judge said that under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), he only has the authority to direct the EPA to act on risks but not the specifics of its response, which could range from nationwide warnings to outright bans.
“I hope the new administration will use the power of TSCA to follow Europe's example and impose a nationwide ban on water fluoridation,” said Michael Connett, an attorney with the Fluoride Action Network and Food & Water. Watch has sued the EPA, telling CBS News.
Lawyers for the federal government have not said what they plan to argue in the appeal. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on the document.
Whether to continue the appeal will be decided by the incoming Trump administration.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.., President-elect Donald Trump Pick As secretary of Health and Human Services, he has advocated for removing fluoride from public water supplies and last year said Trump intended to call for an end to fluoridation.
Trump has said he is open to the idea but has not yet laid out detailed plans. A spokesman for the president-elect did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“If the new administration does want to take a different course on fluoridation policy, then there is no question that it has the authority to abandon that call and initiate a rulemaking process to address fluoridation risks,” Connett said.
The court's September ruling stemmed in large part from a review published by the National Toxicology Program of the National Institutes of Health, which concluded that “higher levels of fluoride exposure” were associated with lower IQs in children.
While these concerning levels are higher than those typically added to U.S. water supplies, some opponents worry that the different ways in which children consume drinks and foods made with fluoridated water may contribute to the levels of fluoride that many children are exposed to. Too high.
Opponents of fluoridation argue that modern toothpastes more than make up for the lack of water fluoridation and cite communities that don't add chemicals to their water supplies.
Not all local governments are sticking to their decision to stop water fluoridation. In Canada, Calgary city council decided to reintroduce fluoride after tooth decay rates among children worsened.
“I hope this is enough to convince the leadership of Calgary, Alta., that they see the harm that ending fluoridation is doing to their city's children,” UCSF professor Howard Pollick said in a post. “The American Dental Association made this recommendation in 2021 after conducting a study of the city's higher tooth decay rates.
