Fluoride will stay in CT water regardless of RFK Jr.’s plan. Here’s why

Gov. Ned Lamont signed legislation Monday establishing a new law to maintain existing levels of fluoride used in water supplies, insulating Connecticut from potential federal policy changes state lawmakers and health officials say could negatively impact public health.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has publicly stated his interest in removing fluoride from drinking water. Kennedy has said he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide.

Connecticut is the only state in the “country to affirm fluoridation by passing legislation requiring large public water systems to maintain optimal fluoride levels,” the Connecticut State Dental Association said in a statement.

“Community water fluoridation has been effective in the United States for nearly a century, and it remains one of the most successful and efficient strategies in improving oral health,” the governor said in a statement. “There is no reason to tamper with this health standard, which has been proven to be safe and effective for many decades.”

Connecticut state statutes most recently required public water systems to maintain an average monthly fluoride content that is not more or less than 0.15 mg/L different from the amount that is recommended by HHS, which is currently 0.7 mg/L, according to the governor’s office.

The governor’s office said the new state law simply preserves that 0.7 mg/L standard in state statutes, no longer keeping it tied to the Department of Health and Human Services.

“Connecticut’s legislators and Gov. Lamont have acted expeditiously and effectively to protect the health of Connecticut residents by ensuring that community water fluoridation remains in place here,” said Kathlene Gerrity, executive director of CSDA in a statement.

Gerrity denounced recent “misinformation about fluoridation,” noting that “statements by Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo labeling fluoridation as ‘medical malpractice’ have been widely rejected by public health experts.”

She cited the American Dental Association President Dr. Brett Kessler’s remarks calling Ladapo’s comments ‘misinformed and dangerous.’

The CSDA said that current research continues to confirm the safety of fluoride at recommended levels.

A recent JAMA Pediatrics article that raised concerns about fluoride affecting IQ levels “presented no new evidence and relied on the National Toxicology Program report that failed peer review twice and was significantly revised prior to release,” according to the CSDA.

Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven, said in a statement that the bill “represents support for forward-thinking science-first policies.”

“Fluoridation in public water supplies doesn’t just benefit public and dental health,” the senator said in a statement. “The Harvard School of Dental Medicine predicts that a national ban on fluoride would increase dental costs by nearly $20 billion over a ten-year period in the United States as cavity rates grow, adding another financial burden for countless families.”

Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, added in a statement that “there is no evidence that fluoride in public waterways in the United States does anything other than prevent cavities and improve oral health.

“In Canada, cavity rates rose 10% when Calgary removed fluoride from public water supplies and the city’s leaders are working to bring it back,” he said. “Why make the same mistake? This bill ensures Connecticut will not turn its back on one of the best public health advances of the last century. We will not be intimidated by conspiracy theories that put our children and public health at risk.”

State Department of Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani said in a statement that “numerous research studies have shown that water fluoridation is safe, effective, and the best way to improve oral health in a community. Given the large decrease in tooth decay during the past 60 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention named water fluoridation one of ten great public health achievements of the 20th century.”

State Sen. Saud Anwar, co-chair of the Public Health Committee, said the Public Health Committee started working on the bill a day or two after the election results showed Trump would become president.

“This is going to help the oral health and dental health of our next generation but also at the same time the overall health because oral health is part of the entire well being,” the senator said. “A number of illnesses are associated with dental disease and oral health. That’s why this was a very important bill.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Originally Published: July 15, 2025 at 5:36 AM EDT