New York City has fluoridated its tap water since 1965, when Mayor Eric Adams was 5 years old.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists water fluoridation as one of the country’s “Ten Great Public Health Achievements” of the 20th century.
A 2022 New York City health department publication advises parents to have their children drink tap water “to increase fluoride intake, since New York City water is fluoridated.”
But President-elect Donald J. Trump has promised to let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “go wild on health,” and Mr. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic and environmental lawyer who dropped his own bid for president and threw his support behind Mr. Trump, has advised doing away with water fluoridation.
Mr. Kennedy, who does not have a medical or public health degree, asserts that fluoride in water is associated with “arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, I.Q. loss, neurodevelopmental disorders and thyroid disease.” Mr. Trump has said Mr. Kennedy’s desire to reduce water fluoridation “sounds OK” to him.
This week, Mr. Adams, a conservative Democrat facing an April trial on federal corruption charges, seemed unsure of the merits of fluoridated water, too, deflecting questions about the issue for two days before eventually saying he supports fluoridation.
“I’m not too familiar with the whole conversation around fluoride, what makes it good or bad,” Mr. Adams said Wednesday, during his first news conference since the election of Mr. Trump.
He deferred to experts at the New York City and New York State health departments.
“I will lean towards them and see what the city position should be,” he said.
On Thursday, he was
asked again about fluoride, which helps strengthen tooth enamel, and whether he supported keeping it in the water supply. The mayor again avoided giving a substantive answer.
“That’s why you bring on experts: Your experts give me the advice, and then I make the final determination on how we’re going to move forward,” Mr. Adams said.
Several hours later, Mr. Adams had apparently reconsidered his position.
“Mayor Adams supports keeping fluoride in New York City’s water supply as recommended by his public health officials and experts,” his spokeswoman, Kayla Mamelak Altus, said.
The mayor supports the public health measure, she added, because it reduces tooth decay, its benefits are supported by decades of evidence, and it helps all New Yorkers, regardless of income, race, age or insurance status.
Mr. Adams’s motivations for his original uncertainty on the matter are unclear.
He may well have been unfamiliar with the scientific consensus on water fluoridation in this country: While elevated levels of fluoridation over a long period can pose health risks, water fluoridation at lower levels is a proven and highly effective way to protect dental health.
The mayor’s answers might also reflect his nuanced relationships with Mr. Trump and the Biden-Harris administration.
Should Mr. Adams be convicted of the federal charges on which he has been indicted, Mr. Trump could theoretically commute his sentence, pardon him or seek to have the Justice Department drop the charges altogether.
Though he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in July, Mr. Adams repeatedly refused to explicitly name her as his pick in the days leading up to the election. He did not embrace the notion advanced by his party that Mr. Trump has fascist tendencies.
And his equivocation this week on an accepted public health measure suggested an openness to a central tenet of Mr. Trump’s health agenda.
Mr. Adams said on Thursday that he spoke with Mr. Trump on Wednesday and discussed with him the many issues facing the city on which he hoped they could work together.
Mr. Adams mentioned infrastructure specifically, but immigration is also likely to be top of mind: During his tenure, more than 200,000 undocumented migrants have arrived in New York City. Mr. Adams has frequently complained of the financial burden that situation has imposed on his administration, even going so far as to say the crisis would “destroy” the city.
On Thursday, a spokeswoman for the city’s health department had no immediate comment on Mr. Adams’s stance on fluoridation.
Erin Clary, a spokeswoman for the state Health Department, said, “New York State supports fluoridation as a significant and cost-effective public health measure.”
Aaron Myers, the senior associate dean for clinical affairs at Columbia University’s College of Dental Medicine, said that fluoridated water particularly benefits those with the least access to regular dental care.
The merits of fluoridation seemed apparent in Buffalo, which announced in September that it would again fluoridate its water, after a nearly decade-long hiatus.
Marcelo W.B. Araujo, the dean of the University at Buffalo’s School of Dental Medicine, said that during that time, he and his colleagues noticed an uptick in pediatric patients with cavities.
“There is nothing more equitable in terms of our health than providing fluoride to the water,” Dr. Araujo said.
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