The Centers for Disease Control may have begun to quietly shift its fluoridation position after a federal judge ruled, based on science and expert testimonies, that fluoride added to water at 0.7 mg/L (the level dentists lobby for) can be health-harming.
According to the Children's Health Defense (CHD), "the CDC hasn’t issued a statement since last month’s ruling that fluoridation at current U.S. levels poses an “unreasonable risk” of reduced IQ in children. However, the agency, which historically supported fluoridation, changed its website to indicate it now wants to shift responsibility to towns, cities and voters."
On its water fluoridation website, the agency added statements that distance it from any responsibility for community water fluoridation and shifted responsibility to towns, cities and voters.
Click on: This comparison to see CDC’s water fluoridation page — which captures snapshots of the page from Sept. 26, the day after the verdict, and Aug. 15, a month before the verdict which was saved in the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.
Two statements added by Sept. 26 are highlighted and also shown in the figure below. In a new “notice” box, the CDC says it does not mandate community water fluoridation and the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) recommended fluoride level — which is 0.7 milligrams per liter (mg/L) — is not an enforceable standard.
The USPHS has been recommending that community water systems add fluoride to their drinking water since 1962. (I found that the CDC has a history of fudging fluoridation safety reports, including the USPHS report) as explained here and here and here
CHD writes, "The website also now says that it is state and local governments and “often, voters themselves” who “make the decision to adjust water fluoride” to improve public health — apparently shifting responsibility for water fluoridation away from the USPHS.
When the NTP published the final version of its report on Aug. 21, the CDC told The Defender it continued to support water fluoridation at current recommended levels, and downplayed the concerns raised by the report.
However, the CDC has not responded to multiple requests from The Defender for comment on the judgment. It also did not respond to a request for comment on the Cochrane Review".
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Thanks to the Children's Health Defense for this investigation.
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