ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Former President Trump told NBC yesterday that removing fluoride from the water supply, quote, "sounds OK" to him. He was responding to a declaration from his ally Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He's lined up to advise Trump on federal health policy, and Kennedy has spread misinformation about vaccines. As NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin reports, public health experts are alarmed.
SELENA SIMMONS-DUFFIN, BYLINE: Adding fluoride to water systems started in 1945 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It's been used widely since then to prevent tooth decay in children. In fact, the CDC has called it one of the 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. explained his position on fluoride at an event with The New York Sun in September.
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ROBERT F KENNEDY JR: I think fluoride is a poison.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Over the weekend, he posted on X that on Inauguration Day, former President Donald Trump would advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride. He wrote, quote, "fluoride is an industrial waste," end quote, and said it was associated with arthritis, IQ loss, thyroid disease, among other conditions. Not true, says Dr. Paul Offit of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
PAUL OFFIT: Fluoride's been well tested. It clearly and definitely decreases cavities and is not associated with any clear evidence of the chronic diseases mentioned in that tweet.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Offit has written many books, including one about celebrities and politicians spreading debunked health information.
OFFIT: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a science denialist. He makes up his own scientific truths and ignores the actual truths.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Kennedy is especially fervent in his advocacy against the use of vaccines, explains Offit.
OFFIT: Which diseases would he like to see come back? - polio, which, you know, caused up to 35,000 cases of paralysis a year and 1,500 deaths? - or whooping cough, which would cause 8,000 children to die every year?
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Kennedy, on Monday, posted a video urging his supporters to vote for Trump so he's elected with a strong mandate.
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KENNEDY: And no one will be able to stop us when he empowers me to clean up corruption in the federal agencies, and especially our health agencies.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Those health agencies include the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among others.
Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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