Pregnant women may want to start paying closer attention to the level of fluoride they consume. A new study reports that increased exposure to fluoride during pregnancy is linked to lower I.Q. scores in children.
We reported over four years ago about the link between fluoridated water and ADHD, depression, and obesity. Now, finally, new attention is being paid to this neurotoxin.
Researchers followed more 600 women and their children in six Canadian cities to evaluate the amount of fluoride they consumed during pregnancy. When the kids were three or four years old, they were given age-appropriate I.Q. tests. The study showed that kids of moms with higher levels of fluoride during pregnancy scored lower on intelligence tests. It also found higher fluoride consumption by the mother may impact boys more than girls.
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JAMA Pediatrics published the study on Monday. In an editor’s note, the peer-reviewed journal’s editor, Dimitri Christakis, recognized the controversial nature of the study. In the note, Christakis stated the study was subject to extra scrutiny for its methods and findings. Christakis wrote in the editor’s note:
“This study is neither the first, nor will it be the last, to test the association between prenatal fluoride exposure and cognitive development. We hope that purveyors and consumers of these findings are mindful of that as the implications of this study are debated in the public arena.”1
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Brittany Seymour, an American Dental Association spokesperson, told USA Today that additional research is needed to determine the possible health effects of prenatal exposure to fluoride. She added:
“We always want to be cautious and take our time to allow additional peer review. Can these findings be replicated to find out if they have any weight?”1
Christine Till, associate professor at York University, is the study’s senior author. She said her research team’s goal was to give new data on the effects of prenatal exposure to fluoridated water. She remarked her team’s study followed a 2017 study in Mexico that also linked prenatal exposure to lower IQ scores. Till said:
“It is our hope that our findings – and all the other studies that are done – are used to inform policy. The question now becomes how will the policymakers weight the risks and benefits,” of fluoride in public water systems.”1
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About 66 percent of all U.S. residents receive fluoridated water. More than one-third of Canadian residents get fluoridated water, while a small percentage of European residents do.
Boston Children’s Hospital researcher David Bellinger noted that the study does not discuss how fluoride might affect children after birth, adding:
“Therefore, these studies do not provide any guidance regarding the management of children’s postnatal exposures to fluoride, such as the age at which fluoride toothpaste should be introduced and the quantity that should be applied to a child’s brush at different ages.”1
However, despite saying that more study is needed, Bellinger acknowledged that researchers must give serious consideration to the suggestion that fluoride might be a neurodevelopmental toxicant.
