Fluoride in drinking water can reduce the IQ of babies

JAMA Pediatrics on Monday published a new research article on the potential effects of fluoride in our drinking water on infant development. In the controversial debate over whether fluoride is good or bad for human health for decades, this research concluded that fluoride consumed by women during pregnancy can reduce intelligence (IQ). of their babies.

But before parents are too worried about the results of this study, there is still much to learn about fluoride and its critical but outrageous role in public health – especially in the United States, Canada, and Europe. where he is intentionally placed. in public drinking water.

Why municipalities add fluoride to drinking water

Fluoride was introduced for the first time into the United States water supply in 1945, when Michigan ordered municipal employees to dump powdered sodium fluoride into aqueduct tanks. From that point on, one of the greatest public health experiments ever undertaken was in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

At that time, confidence in the federal government was high, with children and adults volunteering for dentist appointments the year before the experience. The goal was to help prove the anticancer power of fluoride once introduced. And it worked. US public health researchers have found a significant decrease in tooth decay among children just a few years after the start of this practice. Thus, in 1960, 41 million Americans drank fluoridated water.

Despite rapid adherence and medical consensus, very few people really knew what fluoride was or what could be the adverse effects of ingestion. Unfortunately, more than 70 years later, the same is true. Therefore, every few years, medical research says that we should be for or against the use of fluoride, and the debate continues from the beginning.

What is fluoride?

Fluorides are compounds usually associated with a metal – in most cases, sodium in metallic form. Fluoride exists naturally in soil, air and water, as well as in almost all foods and common substances such as toothpaste and mouthwashes. Two hundred million Americans consume fluoridated water at all times.

As it is natural and proven to make teeth stronger and more resistant to decay caused by acid and bacteria, there were – and there are – many reasons to accept its introduction into the masses. Moreover, since it exists naturally in most sources of fresh and salt water, the ingestion of low concentrations is a natural part of our human interaction with water and food.

In areas where the fluoride content in water is greater than 0.6 parts per million, its use is not recommended. In all medical literature, (conflicting) results indicate that too much of the substance can result in a variety of cancers, decreased IQ, birth defects, decreased birth rate, and heart disease. For example, in Tanzania, water contains dangerously high levels of fluoride and poses a great risk to public health.

This new study is so provocative if it takes place in Canada, where, as in the United States, fluoride is deliberately introduced into public drinking water. So, many people have no way of knowing how much they consume. In addition, despite experts who have determined an "optimal" amount of fluoride to digest via water, there are variations across the country – both in the water supply and in the food and beverages we consume.

The implications of fluoride during pregnancy

This means that many pregnant women ingest more fluoride than they know. The study results indicate that "maternal exposure to higher levels of fluoride during pregnancy is associated with lower IQ scores in children aged 3 to 4 years." In addition, the results indicate that while the difference between intelligence scores was only a few points, the spread was wider when comparing the most exposed and the least exposed subjects. , possibly signaling a dose-response relationship.

Since fluoride crosses the placenta and has accumulated in areas of the brain involved in learning and memory, these results are neither quite surprising nor new. In fact, for the development of the fetal brain, the substance in the water has become a source of division in the scientific and secular communities for this exact reason. The authors even note having confirmed what a 2012 meta-analysis had also found: Higher exposure to fluoride due to drinking water is associated with lower intelligence scores in children.

Although the current study acknowledges that it poses selection problems and that the main risks and consequences have been measured with a considerable number of errors, the results were nevertheless disturbing. If this is true, the effects could last for generations. Not to mention that anyone living in the United States and living today could be exposed to fluoride levels above the levels required.

Be informed and aware

That said, the authors hasten to point out that the majority of fluoride consumed by humans does not come from water. They named "food, tea and toothpaste" as big culprits. So, although the results shock a lot, they are not revolutionary in the larger literature that studies fluoride in our diet in general. In addition, the results are very sensitive to all the confounding factors involved, which ultimately indicates a greater need to understand the effects of fluoride on the human body – especially during development, no matter where he comes.

The editors of JAMA Pediatrics knew that this study would be very controversial. A note from the editor accompanying the article describes the difficult decision to publish. The publisher commented that because of the sensitivity of the results, "we have submitted the document for further examination for its methods and presentation of its results". But they finally agreed that the results should exist on the public stage and be open to debate. .

There is no reason to panic. However, there are many reasons to be informed and aware. In the absence of known fluoride benefits for baby's health and known potential drawbacks, pregnant women would do well to reduce or limit the amount of fluoride that they consume. It is also important that the scientific community continue its research to better understand the effects of this substance on human development and health before more people are at risk.