The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will be reconvening an independent panel of health experts to make a new recommendation on putting fluoride in drinking water, a spokesperson said on Monday. The use of the mineral, which is added to water to strengthen tooth enamel and promote dental health, has been a hot-button political issue in some states for decades. ”HHS is reconvening the Community Preventive Services Task Force to study and make a new recommendation on fluoride,” an HHS spokesperson said. The statement followed an Associated Press report quoting Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. saying at an event in Salt Lake City, Utah, that he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoride in drinking water.

Other drinking water news:

• Courthouse News Service: EPA defends its toxic water guidelines allowing higher levels of chemicals
• The Mercury News: HHS, EPA to study fluoride in drinking water as RFK Jr. says he’ll tell CDC to stop recommending it
• The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, Calif.): CA stands by by fluoridated drinking water as RFK Jr., EPA raise concerns