Texas elected officials love to talk about their commitment to protecting children. For Attorney General Ken Paxton, it’s making sure kids don’t ingest too much fluoride from their favorite toothpastes decorated with Disney Princess and Bluey characters.
Paxton announced an investigation into parent companies Colgate and Proctor & Gamble on Thursday, claiming that they market their products in ways that are “misleading, deceptive, and dangerous” to parents and children, according to a press release.
“I will use every tool available to protect our kids from dangerous levels of fluoride exposure and deceptive advertising,” Paxton said.
Many toothpastes contain fluoride, which protects teeth from cavities according to the American Dental Association, but U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has increasingly advocated against the mineral, exaggerating its health risks to Americans. More recently, Kennedy praised Utah for leading the charge to prohibit local governments from adding fluoride to public water systems.
Paxton also asserted that toothpaste manufacturers encourage children to consume more than the recommended amount of fluoride by flavoring their products. Paxton cited the CDC’s guidance for children to only use a “rice-sized smear” of toothpaste until they turn 3 years old. In a statement to USA TODAY, Colgate-Palmolive refuted the attorney general’s claims.
“Our children’s toothpastes that contain fluoride provide important oral health benefits, are safe to use as directed, and provide directions for proper use consistent with US Food and Drug Administration requirements,” said Tom DiPazza, vice president of corporate relations at Colgate, adding that the products have guidelines on how much toothpaste children should use according to their age.
Kennedy’s push against fluoride in public water has gone on for years. In 2019, Children’s Health Defense — an organization founded by Kennedy — published an article called “US Water Fluoridation: A Forced Experiment that Needs to End.” In an X post last November, Kennedy called the mineral “an industrial waste” and associated it with conditions like IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and bone cancer — but this is misleading. Most studies haven’t found a strong link between water fluoride levels and cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
Both Kennedy and Paxton cite a 2024 federal government meta-analysis that looks at the relationship between higher fluoride levels and lower IQ scores in children, but there are flaws in the methodology. For example, the analysis does not include any studies from the U.S., which already has lower levels of the mineral in its drinking water.
During an April 30 cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump, Kennedy said that more fluoride exposure is making children “stupider,” saying, “We need smart kids in this country, and we need healthy kids.” (Yes RFK, it’s definitely toothpaste and not the shutting down of the Department of Education.) Kennedy plans to change federal fluoride regulations and direct the CDC to stop recommending that local and state governments add the mineral to their public water systems.
Read more at USA TODAY.
