U.S. District Judge Edward Chen has ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to further regulate fluoride in drinking water due to concerns about its potential risks to the intellectual development of children.
The judge concluded that mounting research suggests an unreasonable risk that high levels of fluoride in water could contribute to lower IQ in children, although it is not certain that the typical amount of fluoride added to water is causing lower IQ.
The big picture: Judge Chen did not specify the measures the EPA should take to lower the potential risk posed by fluoride in drinking water.
- Last month, the National Toxicology Program concluded that there is a link between higher fluoride exposure and lower IQ in children.
- The EPA, a defendant in the lawsuit, argued that the impact of fluoride exposure at lower levels was unclear and required further review.
- Judge Chen asserted that the risk to health at exposure levels in U.S. drinking water is sufficiently high to demand a regulatory response from the EPA under federal law.
Driving the news: Federal health officials have recommended a fluoridation level of 0.7 milligrams per liter of water since 2015, a change from the previous upper range of 1.2 milligrams per liter.
- The World Health Organization has set a safe limit for fluoride in drinking water at 1.5 milligrams per liter.
- The EPA has a longstanding requirement that water systems cannot have more than 4 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water to prevent skeletal fluorosis, a disorder that affects bone health.
- Studies over the last two decades have indicated a potential link between fluoride and brain development, particularly in developing fetuses and very young children who might ingest water with baby formula.
- Animal studies have suggested that fluoride could impact neurochemistry and cell function in brain regions responsible for learning, memory, executive function, and behavior.
