Saving Dmitri: RFK’s Plans To Combat Toxic Chemicals
Since former President Donald Trump won the presidential election Nov. 5, he has announced several controversial candidates who are eager to occupy government positions under his administration. Some of the candidates are Elon Musk, Matt Gaetz and Tulsi Gabbard.
Lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was endorsed by Trump to become the U.S. secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is perhaps the most broadly contentious pick yet, largely due to his lack of medical qualifications and divergent stance on medical issues. He has been criticized by members of both parties for his interpretation of what the protection of life looks like as it relates to abortion, vaccines, the environment and more.
According to a statement from Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., “Donald Trump’s selection of a notorious anti-vaxxer (RFK) to lead HHS could not be more dangerous — this is cause for deep concern for every American.”
For years, Kennedy has been making waves among the governmental and medical sectors with contrary stances on the widely accepted “truths” in these spaces. As it seems confirmed that he will hold a position in Trump’s cabinet, these stances, namely those having to do with the use of chemical products in medicine and agriculture, will inevitably be in focus during Trump’s second term.
“The Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” Kennedy said in a post to X on Nov. 2.
Fluoride is an element, which, according to the Cleveland Clinic, is beneficial in small quantities for dental health but is toxic in large quantities. It has become more relevant since Kennedy highlighted its considerable presence in public waterworks.
The environmental lawyer boldly claimed, “I think fluoride is a poison,” in an interview with The New York Sun.
Initially, community water fluoridation trials were largely intended to improve the otherwise terrible oral hygiene of Americans in 1945, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 60 years later, the vast majority of Americans have access to effective oral health products, yet the amount of fluoride in public water continues to increase in many places.
In addition to fluoride, Kennedy has been a strong force against the chemical glyphosate, which is the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer. After winning a case against Monsanto on behalf of farmers who had been harmed by the chemical, he continually campaigns against the standard and aerial application of glyphosate, even though the Environmental Protection Agency claims it is safe.
While Kennedy opposes these chemicals, the use of atrazine is perhaps most incompatible with his public health agenda. This potent herbicide is one of the most used herbicides in the world, according to the National Institutes of Health.
In a study using frogs placed in an environment with lower levels of atrazine than the EPA permits, the NIH found that “(a)trazine feminized exposed males.” Of the male frogs involved in the trial, 10% “developed into functional females” while others were chemically castrated.
But this chemical has been studied in relation to humans as well, with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry noting, “One of the primary ways that atrazine can affect your health is by altering the way that the reproductive system works.”
As the new administration comes to power and Kennedy is permitted to make changes in the public health sector, these chemicals will undoubtedly be put on trial once again. Inevitably, his meddling in the way the medical and agricultural establishments are run will earn great opposition, but someone must step forward and accept the consequence of doing what is right, whether it is him or not.
Those who would stand in the way of the efforts to ban or disincentivize the use of these destructive substances on the basis of freedom should consider the fact that the value of life is being infringed upon every minute they are permitted. Personal choice does not work when the water supply is polluted by fluoride, the fields are polluted by glyphosate and the country is polluted by atrazine.
The fact is, it is well-established that these chemicals negatively impact the environment. If now is not the time for lawmakers to break the stagnation, then the U.S. government has failed at its most basic goal of standing for life.
Kilker is the leaving opinion editor for the Liberty Champion.