New Research: Fluoride In Drinking Water Can Reduce Babies' IQ thefederalist.com/2019/08/21/new…
At that time, trust in the federal government was high, with children and adults alike volunteering for dental appointments the year leading up to the experiment. The goal was to help prove the cavity-fighting power of fluoride once it was introduced.
Despite the rapid buy-in and medical consensus, very few people actually knew what fluorides were or what the negative effects could be from ingestion. Sadly, more than 70 years later, the same is still true.
What makes this newest study so provocative, then, is that it takes place in Canada, where, like in the United States, fluoride is purposefully placed in public drinking water. Thus, many people have no way of knowing how much they are consuming.
Further, despite experts determining an “optimal” amount of fluoride to be digested via water, variation exists across the nation — both in the water supply and in the foods and beverages we consume.
This means many expectant mothers are ingesting more fluoride than they know. The study results indicate that “maternal exposure to higher levels of fluoride during pregnancy are associated with lower IQ scores in children aged 3-4 years old.”
Moreover, the results indicate that while the difference in intelligence scores was only a couple of points, the spread was wider when comparing those with highest exposure and those with the least exposure, perhaps signaling a dose-response relationship.
Because fluoride crosses the placenta and has been shown to accumulate in brain regions involved in learning and memory, these results are not completely surprising, nor new.
In fact, for fetal brain development, including the substance in water has become divisive in both the scientific and lay communities for this exact reason.
The authors even note that they confirmed what a 2012 meta-analysis also found: Higher fluoride exposure from drinking water is associated with lower intelligence scores in children.
There is ample reason to be informed and aware, however. Without any known health benefits of fluoride to babies, and with known potential harms, expectant mothers would do well to decrease or limit the amount of fluoride they consume.
P.S. If fluoride is not harmful, why is there a warning on your tube of toothpaste that tells you to call the Poison Control Center if you swallow some?
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