US government report says fluoride at twice the recommended limit is linked to lower IQ in kids

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 11:23 PM EDT, August 21, 2024


NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. government report expected to stir debate concluded that fluoride in drinking water at twice the recommended limit is linked with lower IQ in children.

The report, based on an analysis of previously published research, marks the first time a federal agency has determined — “with moderate confidence” — that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. While the report was not designed to evaluate the health effects of fluoride in drinking water alone, it is a striking acknowledgment of a potential neurological risk from high levels of fluoride.

Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.

“I think this (report) is crucial in our understanding” of this risk, said Ashley Malin, a University of Florida researcher who has studied the affect of higher fluoride levels in pregnant women on their children. She called it the most rigorously conducted report of its kind.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/fluoride-water-brain-neurology-iq-0a671d2de3b386947e2bd5a661f437a5

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Link to REPORT - Fluoride Exposure: Neurodevelopment and Cognition

[cstanleytech]

1. Does this mean Trumps mother brushed 20 times a day?

[chowder66]

2. The Republican Party will now include increasing fluoride in Project 2025. nt

[Sin]

3. Well i'll be he was right. Lol

?si=oDappYtGekMWatAJ

[JoseBalow]

13. This was my first thought when I saw the headline

[Shermann]

4. Correlation is not causation. nt

[Backseat Driver]

5. Life long stupidity is worse than at-home dental care to prevent caries and a smallish

dental bill for regular removal of plaque. I'm still a rather healthy senior citizen that wishes Medicare/Medicaid coverage would include quality of life issues like dental care, vision care, hearing care...chalk it up to what-you-will, I might have a longevity gene. It's time for the government to compete and offer plans that provide more than a small side discount with those private Advantage plans likely to deny, deny, deny and where service providers are not just local, not just bring down BigPharma costs on a few already widely prescribed medications that spend millions on advertising.

[Silent Type]

8. Unfortunately, even Biden plan to add dental coverage to Medicare was only $2000/year and it wouldn't begin until 2028.

Obviously, didn't pass. Don't see it happening anytime soon.

[stopdiggin]

7. Now I'm confused. This ISN'T a serious report/article?

help me out here!

[quaint]

10. When I posted, the responses were all fun, so I thought it was a joke.

Deleting post. Still unsure if it is real or not.

[stopdiggin]

9. The quick take away here is that if your water system (city, county, water district)

is fluoridating your water - you are NOT getting the ‘higher levels’ under discussion here. And further, almost all cases of ‘higher levels’ are occurring in ‘natural’ water supplies. Moreover, some of the amalgamated loss of IQ suggested, would almost certainly be occurring in settings (possibly not this country) where natural fluoride levels are at considerably higher levels than the 1.5 used as a threshold of definition here.

- AP article - It summarizes a review of studies, conducted in Canada, China, India, Iran, Pakistan, and Mexico, that concludes that drinking water containing more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter is consistently associated with lower IQs in kids.

The report did not try to quantify exactly how many IQ points might be lost at different levels of fluoride exposure. But some of the studies reviewed in the report suggested IQ was 2 to 5 points lower in children who’d had higher exposures.

Since 2015, federal health officials have recommended a fluoridation level of 0.7 milligrams per liter of water, and for five decades before the recommended upper range was 1.2. The World Health Organization has set a safe limit for fluoride in drinking water of 1.5. The report said that about 0.6% of the U.S. population — about 1.9 million people — are on water systems with naturally occurring fluoride levels of 1.5 milligrams or higher.

None of the above meaning to suggest that if your water supply IS one of those that sees higher natural levels - (which hopefully you are already aware of) - you should eschew common sense precautions and awareness. Protect yourself and your health certainly. But this is not a call to de-fluoridate the water supply on a wholesale basis. Or at least not to the more sensible among ....

[patphil]

11. One of the things floride does is replace iodine in the thyroid gland.

This has a negative effect on the Thyroid gland's ability to produce hormones used by the body.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3890436/

Go down to this paragraph and continue reading:

"As it is already known that fluoride is more electronegative than iodine, it easily displaces iodine within the body, thereby affects the functioning of thyroid gland. Fluoride has been known to have shown gross as well as biochemical changes within the body of an individual which included deranged thyroid hormonal level with in the body...."

I worked for 36 years in the Pharmaceutical industry, and am well aware of the negative health impacts of too much Fluoride in the human body.
I do not recommend putting Fluoride in drinking water. All you need is a fluoride tooth paste, and try not to swallow.
Also, there are differences between naturally occurring Fluoride compounds and the stuff they put in the water supply. There is a lot of information on this on the internet.
It's your decision, but I use filters to remove the Fluoride compounds from the municipal water supply that comes into my house.

[BadgerKid]

12. Also, non-iodized salt and bottled filtered water are more common.

I like my municipal water fluoridated and table salt iodized BY DEFAULT, thankyouverymuch.