Federal Court Rules That Fluoridation Chemicals Pose An “Unreasonable Risk” To Health

Introductory Note: Fluoride Action Network, a group that has for many years opposed the fluoridation of drinking water, recently won a case in a US district court which found that fluoridation presents an “unreasonable risk” to the health of children. The case has been in court for seven years.  As a result, the US EPA will now be required to regulate fluoridation as a health risk to children.  The paragraph below is an excerpt from the introduction to the ruling.

“The issue before this Court is whether the Plaintiffs have established by a preponderance of the evidence that the fluoridation of drinking water at levels typical in the United States poses an unreasonable risk of injury to health of the public within the meaning of Amended TSCA. For the reasons set forth below, the Court so finds. Specifically, the Court finds that fluoridation of water at 0.7 milligrams per liter (“mg/L”) – the level presently considered “optimal” in the United States – poses an unreasonable risk of reduced IQ in children… The Court finds there is an unreasonable risk of such injury, a risk sufficient to require the EPA to engage with a regulatory response…One thing the EPA cannot do, however, in the face of this Court’s finding, is to ignore that risk.”

It’s the first time a federal judge has made a determination about the neurodevelopmental risks to children of the recommended U.S. water fluoride level, said Ashley Malin, a University of Florida researcher who has studied the effect of higher fluoride levels in pregnant women.

She called it “the most historic ruling in the U.S. fluoridation debate that we’ve ever seen.”  (Associated Press)

Don’t expect anything to happen quickly on this issue. Fluoride in water has been a controversial issue for decades, and the knowledge that children’s IQ can be lowered by ingestion of fluoride by mothers and babies alike is not new.  (See “Fluoride and IQ in Children” in the Pure Water Gazette.) The wheels of change turn slowly. Expect legal appeals and more legal appeals and probably studies and more studies. This court ruling, however, represents a significant victory in the fight to outlaw the fluoridation of public drinking water.