United States: A new meta-analysis conducted by a federal body has found that ingesting more than the amounts of Fluoride the US recommends for drinking water does reduce Children’s IQ by a small percentage.
More about the news
Scientists from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences have claimed that the research showed that Fluoride in drinking water, which is below 4mg/L, reduces IQ scores, while levels below 1.5mg/L were found irrelevant.
According to the US Public Health Service, the recommended level of Fluoride in US drinking water is 0.7 mg/L.
What more are the experts stating?
According to the leader of the team of researchers, Kyla Taylor, a health scientist with the NIEHS’ Division of Translational Toxicology, “There were limited data and uncertainty in the dose-response association between fluoride exposure and children’s IQ when fluoride exposure was estimated by drinking water alone at concentrations less than 1.5 mg/L,” US News reported.
The analysis was restricted to the 11 most reliable studies in the review, which also reported a 1.14 IQ point loss per 1 mg/L of F in urine.
This new evidence review was published in the highly ranked JAMA Pediatrics at a time when fluoridation was under political fire.
The nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is an opponent of fluoridation.
Fluoride is added to drinking water to protect against tooth decay, a practice supported by groups like the American Dental Association.
Are high fluoride levels affecting your child’s IQ? Exploring the (controversial) evidence #Science https://t.co/2WHJo89akl
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Critics of the new review noted that none of the seventy four studies included in the review took place in the United States.
Furthermore, as Dr. Brett Kessler, president of the American Dental Association, stated, “The public needs to understand that the levels examined in (the) report are from countries with high levels of naturally occurring fluoride that is more than double the amount recommended by the U.S. Public Health Service to optimally fluoridate community water systems and help prevent dental disease,” US News reported.
The new evidence review has been published in JAMA Pediatrics and emerges at the time fluoridation is heading for political controversy.
The research team found out that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can take legal action over a public water supply if the fluoride concentration gets to 4 mg/L and can post advisories at 2 mg/L.
As the NIEHS team concluded, “To our knowledge, no studies of fluoride exposure and children’s IQ have been performed in the United States, and no nationally representative urinary fluoride levels are available, hindering the application of these findings to the US population.”
“Although this meta-analysis was not designed to address the broader public health implications of water fluoridation in the United States, these results may inform future public health risk-benefit assessments of fluoride,” the team continued.