Does the U.S. EPA oppose water fluoridation?
No. EPA has no authority under law to oppose or endorse fluoridation. But they can, and have, stated that “Fluoride in drinking water at levels of about 1 ppm reduces the number of dental cavities” (51 Fed Reg 1140, 1986). They have also stated that “There exists no directly applicable scientific documentation of adverse medical effects at levels of fluoride below 8 mg/l,” (62 Fed Reg 64297, 1997). In effect, U.S. EPA has gone on record that there are no adverse medical effects from fluoridation even at eight times the optimum concentration for reduction of tooth decay. The basis for an allegation that the EPA opposes fluoridation occurred on July 2, 1997, when 20 EPA employees who opposed fluoridation attended a meeting of Chapter 280 of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE). At that time, EPA had approximately 18,000 employees, and Chapter 280 of NFFE represented 1000-1600 of them. Because those 20 EPA employees constituted a majority of the union members attending the
