Another Study Finds Link Between Fluoride and Lowered IQ
A meta-study—a study of multiple studies—shows a clear link between prenatal exposure to fluoride and reduced IQ in children at age 7.
The meta-study, which looked at three studies from Denmark, Mexico and Canada, found that a concentration of 0.3mg/L of fluoride in maternal urine was the critical threshold beyond which exposure has toxic effects on cognitive development.
The data from the Danish study provided evidence for lower concentrations of fluoride, and didn’t substantiate a clear link between prenatal exposure and IQ at age 7, but when the data from the Mexican and Canadian studies were considered as well, it became clear that higher concentrations were associated with IQ decreases.
A maternal urine fluoride level increase of 1 mg/l was associated with a 2.06 point IQ decrease in children.
There has been renewed focus on the health effects of fluoridation as a result of Trump’s election victory and his choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
At the beginning of November, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made clear that removing fluoride from public water will be one of the new Trump administration’s top health priorities.
“On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” Kennedy Tweeted.
“Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease. President @realDonaldTrump and First Lady @MELANIATRUMP want to Make America Healthy Again.”
In September, Judge Edward Chen, in the Northern District of California, ruled that fluoride in drinking water poses an “unreasonable risk” of reduced IQ in children.
“In all, there is substantial and scientifically credible evidence establishing that fluoride poses a risk to human health; it is associated with a reduction in the IQ of children and is hazardous at dosages that are far too close to fluoride levels in the drinking water of the United States,” Chen wrote.
“EPA’s own expert agrees that fluoride is hazardous at some level,” he added, citing a report by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and National Toxicology Program (NTP) which “concluded that fluoride is indeed associated with reduced IQ in children, at least at exposure levels at or above 1.5 mg/L.”
American towns have already started removing fluoride from their water supplies after Judge Chen’s ruling.
Yorktown and Somers, both in New York State, have both announced an end to municipal fluoridation.
Somers Supervisor Robert Scorrano said that the town’s decision to stop fluoridating the municipal water supply would “give residents the freedom to choose their own sources of fluoride, ensuring personal control over their health decisions. Additionally, concerns about potential long-term health risks from fluoride exposure support reevaluating its use in public water systems.”
Florida’s Surgeon General has also recommended removing fluoride from all public water.
Joseph Ladapo said fluoride should be removed from public water by 1 January next year or “as soon as possible thereafter.”
Ladapo said the measure was necessary because of the “neuropsychiatric risk associated with fluoride exposure.”
