For 70 years, a persistent minority of academics and activists has claimed that fluoridated drinking water poses a serious but overlooked risk to public health. This hypothesis, almost universally rejected by the science establishment, was treated like a bad joke as far back as the 1965 film Dr. Strangelove, which pilloried opposition to fluoridated water as an anti-communist conspiracy theory.

But fluoride phobia was suddenly mainstreamed after the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) amplified concerns about fluoridated drinking water, publishing a federally funded study in January claiming that “Accumulating evidence suggests that fluoride exposure may affect brain development.” The concern intensified after health and human services secretary RFK, Jr. announced plans in April to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide. CDC has yet to update its guidelines on water fluoridation, and just-published research has confirmed that exposure to trace amounts of fluoride in drinking poses no risk of neurological damage.

Nevertheless, two states have already removed the chemical from their municipal water supplies, and the broader policy debate over fluoridated water continues despite clear evidence exonerating it as a beneficial public health intervention. Skepticism today typically correlates strongly with political identity but spans the ideological spectrum, with left-wing anti-chemical activists and MAHA conservatives finding common cause on this and other alternative health issues.

The question worth exploring is: why are so many people from opposite ends of the political spectrum, who disagree about almost everything, willing to lock arms on these alternative health causes? More importantly, what can scientists do to neutralize this campaign before it gains further traction and causes more harm to public health?

Join Dr. Liza Lockwood and Cam English on this episode of Facts and Fallacies as they take a closer look at the anti-fluoride crusade:

Dr. Liza Lockwood is a medical toxicologist and the medical affairs lead at Bayer Crop Science. Follow her on X @DrLizaMD

Cameron J. English is the director of bio-sciences at the American Council on Science and Health. Follow him on X @camjenglish