Child IQ at Risk? Fluoride Levels in Drinking Water Spark Controversy

United States: A new federal meta-analysis has determined that exposure to Fluoride may lower children’s IQ by a slight amount – but only at levels that exceed those that the US currently recommends for drinking water.

More about the news

Researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences have said that low levels of Fluoride in drinking water, below 4mg/L, were found to have a negative impact on IQ scores, but the concentration of less than 1.5mg/L had no effect.

The recommended level of Fluoride in US drinking water is 0.7 mg/L, the US Public Health Service says.

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.

Critics of the new review noted that none of the 74 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.