Fluoride once again scrutinized for possible effect on children's brains
Erika Edwards
Mon, January 6, 2025
Fluoride once again scrutinized for possible effect on children's brains
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A new report once again raises the question of whether there is a link between fluoride in drinking water and lower IQ levels in children.
The research, published in JAMA Pediatrics on Monday, is a review of 74 other studies exploring how the mineral may affect children’s IQ levels.
The analysis found a statistically significant association between higher fluoride exposure and lower children’s IQ scores. It showed that "the more fluoride a child is exposed to, the more likely that child’s IQ will be lower than if they were not exposed,” Kyla Taylor, author of the study and a health scientist at the National Institute of Environmental Health Studies at the National Institutes of Health, wrote in an email. Taylor was not available for an interview.
For every small increase of fluoride found in kids' urine, Taylor wrote, “there is a decrease of 1.63 IQ points in children.”
The researchers did not suggest that fluoride should be removed from drinking water. According to the study authors, most of the 74 studies they reviewed were low-quality ones. All were done in countries other than the United States, such as China, where researchers analyzed fluoride levels in water and in urine. Fluoride levels in China and other countries tend to be much higher than in the U.S., the researchers noted.
Fluoride has been added to public water supplies in the U.S. for decades. No studies in the U.S. have flagged any measurable decreases in children's cognitive development since fluoride was introduced.
There has been a growing pushback against fluoridated water in a number of communities across the country.
Some have already voted to remove fluoride from public water supplies.
Dentists worry the findings will be potentially damaging to public health.
"What we have seen in areas where fluoride has been removed, is that dental decay rates have increased dramatically," said Dr. Erica Caffrey, a pediatric dentist and chair of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry’s Council on Clinical Affairs.
Major public health groups, including the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Dental Association, support the use of fluoridated water.
An ADA spokesperson, Dr. Scott Tomar, said that if more robust studies prove a link between fluoride and brain development, public health leaders should take a closer look at the mineral's effects. That proof doesn't exist yet, he said.
Fluoride exposure and children’s IQ scores
About The Study:
This systematic review and meta-analysis found inverse associations and a dose-response association between fluoride measurements in urine and drinking water and children’s IQ across the large multi-country epidemiological literature. 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. These findings may inform future comprehensive public health risk-benefit assessments of fluoride exposures.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Kyla W. Taylor, PhD, email kyla.taylor@nih.gov.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.5542)
Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.
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Journal
JAMA Pediatrics
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