December 18, 2025
Anti-fluoridation groups urged a California federal judge in a hearing Thursday to grant them $9.5 million in attorney fees for winning a 2024 decision that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "optimal" fluoride level for drinking water poses an unreasonable risk of lowering children's IQ.
November 19, 2024
A California federal court decision that plunged deep into the scientific research on fluoride's impact on human health may offer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the incoming Trump administration a path to discouraging — or even banning — the fluoridation of drinking water.
September 25, 2024
A California federal judge on Tuesday agreed with green groups that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's current "optimal" level of fluoride in drinking water poses an unreasonable risk of lowering children's IQ and directed the EPA to act.
February 20, 2024
A California federal judge questioned the EPA and environmental groups on studies linking fluoride exposure to lower IQs during bench trial closing arguments Tuesday, observing that there's a clear dose-response relationship at high levels of fluoride exposure, but at low levels, "the evidence is mixed — we've got evidence going both ways."
February 13, 2024
The government wrapped its defense Tuesday in a California federal bench trial over environmental groups' efforts to ban fluoride in America's drinking water, with the government's final witness acknowledging under cross-examination that fluoride is capable of causing "neurodevelopmental harm."
February 12, 2024
A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency scientist testifying in a California federal bench trial Monday over fluoride's risks criticized studies showing links between fluoride exposure and IQ drops, saying repeatedly there's "a lot of uncertainty" regarding the studies' data and the "evidence is weak."
February 09, 2024
A Brown University epidemiologist testified Friday on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a bench trial over fluoride's risks Friday that there are data "gaps" in studies linking fluoride exposure to lower IQ, while acknowledging under cross-examination that he hadn't reviewed studies assessing the effects of high-dose fluoride exposure.
February 07, 2024
A California federal judge presiding over a bench trial over fluoridated water's risks agreed to give the parties more time to present their cases Wednesday, but told counsel they haven't been "particularly efficient," and that "I don't need the Perry Mason moments — I just need to get to the issues."
February 02, 2024
A Harvard epidemiologist testifying Friday in a high-stakes bench trial over fluoridated water's risks criticized a study cited by the government that found fluoride exposure increases IQ by 24 points, saying the results "don't make sense," are "beyond the imagination" and must be based on erroneous data.
February 01, 2024
A Harvard epidemiologist testified in a high-stakes bench trial over environmental groups' efforts to get the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ban fluoride in 200 million Americans' drinking water that there is "definitely a causal relationship" between fluoride exposure and neurotoxicity, even at low exposure levels.