Fluoride: Can it be so Simple?
Yes, the answer is yes.
“There are no known benefits to the fetus from ingesting fluoride. And yet now we have several studies conducted in North America suggesting that there may be a pretty significant risk to the developing brain during that time.”
“Our findings are noteworthy, given that the women in this study were exposed to pretty low levels of fluoride — levels that are typical of those living in fluoridated regions within North America”
Ashley J. Malin, PhD - Lead author, “Maternal Urinary Fluoride and Child Neurobehavior at Age 36 Months” (JAMA Open Network)
“Conclusions and Relevance In this prospective cohort study of mother-child pairs in Los Angeles, California, prenatal fluoride exposure was associated with increased neurobehavioral problems. These findings suggest that there may be a need to establish recommendations for limiting fluoride exposure during the prenatal period.”
"Findings from this study are consistent with a recent Canadian study13 of over 600 maternal-child pairs in the Calgary cohort of the Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition study.
The study found that exposure to drinking water fluoridated at 0.7 mg/L throughout pregnancy was associated with symptoms of executive dysfunction, including poorer inhibitory control, and decreased cognitive flexibility among children aged 3 to 5 years"
And there you have it: Alex Jones has been right about Fluoride in drinking water for all these years.
Another “conspiracy theory” has proven true. Apologies anyone?
Although not specifically named, the above study conducted in the USA and others like it worldwide caused the US Government’s National Toxicology Program to release a report this week linking higher levels of fluoride with neurobehavioral issues and lowered IQ. The conclusions from this report are as follows:
…higher levels of fluoride exposure, such as drinking water containing more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter, are associated with lower IQ in children. The NTP review was designed to evaluate total fluoride exposure from all sources and was not designed to evaluate the health effects of fluoridated drinking water alone. It is important to note, however, that there were insufficient data to determine if the low fluoride level of 0.7 mg/L currently recommended for U.S. community water supplies has a negative effect on children’s IQ.
The NTP uses 4 confidence levels - high, moderate, low, or very low - to characterize the strength of scientific evidence that associates a particular health outcome with an exposure. After evaluating studies published through October 2023, the NTP Monograph concluded there is moderate confidence in the scientific evidence that showed an association between higher levels of fluoride and lower IQ in children.
The determination about lower IQs in children was based primarily on epidemiology studies in non-U.S. countries such as Canada, China, India, Iran, Pakistan, and Mexico where some pregnant women, infants, and children received total fluoride exposure amounts higher than 1.5 mg fluoride/L of drinking water.
The U.S. Public Health Service currently recommends 0.7 mg/L, and the World Health Organization has set a safe limit for fluoride in drinking water of 1.5 mg/L. The NTP found no evidence that fluoride exposure had adverse effects on adult cognition.
It seems rather coincidental that the National Toxicology Program set the toxicity to just above 1.5 mg/L (but didn’t actually set a mg/L ratio that was toxic), which is the WHO recommendation for fluoride-supplemented water.
“This review finds, with moderate confidence, that higher estimated fluoride exposures (e.g., as in approximations of exposure such as drinking water fluoride concentrations that exceed the World Health Organization Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality of 1.5 mg/L of fluoride) are consistently associated with lower IQ in children. More studies are needed to fully understand the potential for lower fluoride exposure to affect children’s IQ.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) set a safe limit for fluoride in drinking water at 1.5 milligrams per liter. Still, the US government report found that drinking water containing slightly more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter is associated with lower IQs in children. Having read the US government’s report, I could not find a justification using the primary data for why they chose that 1.5 mg/l. cut off for toxicity. Could it be that stating that the WHO is advocating for a potentially toxic dosing strategy for fluoridated water was probably a step too far for the National Toxicology Program when writing the report?
Humans vary enormously in the amount of water they drink per day. Studies show that warm climates, seasonal variations in temperature – particularly in warmer climates, age, BMI, and pregnancy all affect the amount of water a person consumes.
Of note, women in later pregnancy drink much more water per body weight. Infants consume a much larger volume of water per body weight. Herein lies the problem. As fluoridation in the water system is based on a weight/water volume (mg/liter) ratio, the more a person drinks, the more fluoride one consumes. Obese pregnant women living in warmer climates, without access to air conditioning, are likely to consume a much higher amount of water daily. By adding fluoride to the water, the amount consumed by any one individual will vary widely.
Furthermore, fluoride, which is put into toothpaste and other products, is routinely given to pregnant women, babies, and young children. The frequency of tooth brushing, fluoride ratio, and fluoride composition found in toothpaste formulas vary greatly.
Fluoride supplements are also often prescribed to pregnant mothers. Young children are often subjected to fluoride varnishing treatments and/or the use of fluoridated mouthwashes, gels, and toothpaste, particularly when fluoridated water is not available.
In rural settings, where people have well-water, women are often encouraged to take fluoride supplements, particularly in previous decades. For instance, when my wife, Jill, was pregnant with our first child in 1984, she was prescribed a fluoride supplement with the warning from her OB/gyn that tooth buds are formed in the neonate and that fluoride supplementation is necessary to prevent tooth decay.
The point is that 1) fluoride from drinking water can vary widely between individuals (warmer weather, pregnancy, individual drinking habits, weight, etc.), and 2) there are also other sources of fluoride, which can significantly increase a pregnant mother’s fluoride intake.
So, the WHO’s recommendation of 1.5 mg/L. is extremely high, given that women get fluoride from many different sources, not just water, and babies drink a lot of volume compared to body weight - particularly in warmer climates.
Worldwide health policies, conducted on millions, if not billions of people, can lead to vast numbers of people being adversely affected if those policies are later proven detrimental to health and wellness. In this case, millions of children will suffer from neurobehavioral challenges, making adult relationships difficult and cognitive issues.
Did the WHO purposefully ignore the warning signals that over-fluoridation of pregnant mothers and children could lead to decreased IQ and neuro-behavioral issues? Given that these peer-reviewed studies began to be published at least five years ago, they must have known these guidelines were wrong (1), (2), (3), (4).
So, why does the WHO still recommend supplementation with 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter?
All this said, cavities are an issue, particularly in countries without many dentists.
Wouldn’t it nice if the WHO and the US government worked to decrease or eliminate sugar from children's diet? Develop local food sources that are healthy for children should be of utmost importance.
Encouraging children and adults to get plenty of sunshine is also important.
As an aside, vitamin D is crucial in oral health, particularly in preventing tooth decay and cavities. Key findings include:
Vitamin D deficiency is linked to cavities: Studies have shown that a vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of tooth decay in children and adults.
Reduced risk with supplementation: One controlled study found that vitamin D supplements reduced cavities in children by 47%. For children living in the city or in climates where getting outside is not possible, vitamin D supplements should be considered.
Vitamin D deficiency in pregnant mothers is linked to increased cavities in children.
This is true of older adults also, and recent studies show that vitamin D deficiency in the older population is linked to poor oral health.
As dental diseases such as periodontitis and dental caries increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, maintaining adequate vitamin D levels may improve heart health in an older population.
A recent study concluded that exceptionally high cardiovascular risk is conferred by the presence of vitamin D deficiency and inflammatory markers.
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