The legal battle over fluoridated drinking water escalated today when attorneys for Food & Water Watch (FWW), Fluoride Action Network (FAN) and other plaintiffs filed a brief accusing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of trying “to protect the EPA from the public” rather than protecting public health.
The outcome of the agency’s appeal will shape federal oversight of community water fluoridation and also determine how much power citizens have to force regulatory action when new scientific evidence emerges.
At the center of the dispute is the citizen petition process, which allows citizens to file lawsuits demanding restrictions on toxic chemicals that aren’t effectively regulated. Congress created the process under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
In July, when the EPA appealed a 2024 federal court ruling that ordered it to take action to address the risk posed by water fluoridation, the agency didn’t challenge the court’s finding that current fluoridation levels pose an “unreasonable risk” of neurodevelopmental harm to children.
Hellbound and Down 