Many still do not realize the proven health risks inherent with fluoridated water, but the information is spreading. Beginning in 1945, it was claimed that adding fluoride to drinking water was a safe and effective way to improve people’s dental health. Over the decades, many bought into this hook, line and sinker, despite all the evidence to the contrary.

Scientific investigations have revealed that fluoride is an endocrine-disrupting chemical,¹ and have linked it to the rising prevalence of thyroid disease.² Importantly, fluoride has been identified as a developmental neurotoxin that impacts short-term and working memory, contributes to rising rates of attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD)³ and lowered IQ in children.⁴

Now, a new, long-term multimillion-dollar study sponsored by the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and conducted by a research team that has produced over 50 papers on the effects of environmental exposures on children’s cognitive health, sheds light on the price children pay when mothers are exposed to fluoride during pregnancy.

As noted by Paul Connett, Ph.D., toxicologist, environmental chemist and former director of the Fluoride Action Network (FAN) in the video commentary above (while retiring and handing over the director’s position to his son Michael, Connett remains very active in the organization):

“This should spell the end of water fluoridation worldwide. How can you possibly continue to expose millions of pregnant women and children to a known neurotoxic substance, now that you know there’s a relationship between how much fluoride a woman is exposed to in pregnancy and the IQ of the children born to them?”

Lowered Fluoridation Level Still Too High

In April 2015, the U.S. government admitted the “optimal” level of fluoride recommended since 1962 had in fact been too high, resulting in over 40 percent of American teens having dental fluorosis — a sign of fluoride overexposure. In some areas, dental fluorosis rates are as high as 70 to 80 percent, with some children suffering from advanced forms.

As a result of these findings, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) lowered its recommended level of fluoride in drinking water by 40 percent, from an upper limit of 1.2 milligrams per liter (mg/L) to 0.7 mg/L.⁵

The HHS will re-evaluate dental fluorosis rates among children again around 2025, to assess whether they were correct about this new level being protective against dental fluorosis. However, even if 0.7 mg/L lowers incidence of dental fluorosis, the current study clearly shows this does NOT mean it’s a safe level overall.

Prenatal Fluoride Exposure Lowers IQ in Children

In a complaint filed against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in response to its denial of a petition to ban water fluoridation, FAN, along with a coalition of environmental and public health groups, presented the agency with more than 180 studies showing fluoride causes neurotoxic harm and reduced IQ in children.⁶

Many of these studies found harm at levels within the range, or precariously close to, the levels millions of American children receive on a regular basis. All in all, there are more than 300 animal and human studies demonstrating fluoride can cause:⁷

Brain damage, especially when coupled with iodine deficiency or excessive levels of aluminum

Reduced IQ

Impaired ability to learn and remember

Neurobehavioral deficits such as impaired visual-spatial organization

Impaired fetal brain development

Now we can add yet another study to this ever-growing list. This study,^8,9,10,11 published in Environmental Health Perspectives last month, found a correlation between fluoride exposure in utero and subsequent reductions in cognitive function at the ages of 4 and 6 through 12. Each 0.5 mg/L increase in fluoride over 0.8 mg/L in the mother’s urine was associated with a 2.5-point reduction in IQ and a 3.15-point reduction in general cognitive index (GCI) scores in the child, leading the authors to conclude that:

“… higher prenatal fluoride exposure, in the general range of exposures reported for other general population samples of pregnant women and nonpregnant adults, was associated with lower scores on tests of cognitive function in the offspring at age 4 and 6-12 y[ears].”