The research into fluoride has been gathering momentum over the past few years with more research being carried out in fluoridated areas. This is leading us to the inescapable conclusion that fluoridation is neither safe or effective.

At a glance:

  • 2023 Fluoridation increases behaviours associated with ADHD, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability, and specific learning disorders.
  • 2022 Iodine status of mother affects boys Intelligence
  • 2020 Babies fed infant formula using fluoridated water have significantly lowered IQ
  • 2019 Maternal Fluoride Exposure During Pregnancy with a 3 fold increase in ADHD diagnoses in Canadian offspring
  • 2019 Maternal Fluoride Exposure During Pregnancy associated with lowered IQ Scores in Canadian offspring
  • 2019 Canadian O’Brien Institute of Public Health ring alarm bells over fluoridation
  • 2019 Fluoride exposure may contribute to complex changes in kidney and liver related parameters among U.S. adolescents.
  • 2019 Founder and director of the Institute of Neurotoxicology and Neurological Disorders (INND) issues statement
  • 2019 Fluoride Inhibits one of our most important enzymes
  • 2019 Fluoride contributes to impaired iodine absorption
  • 2019 Fluoride linked to Eye disease
  • 2019 World leading expert on lead warns of fluoride toxicity
  • 2018 Pre-natal fluoride exposure linked to ADHD
  • 2017 Pre-natal fluoride exposure linked to lowered IQ
  • 2015 Fluoridation linked to hypothyroidism
  • 2015 Fluoridation linked to ADHD

 

2023 Dewey et al Published in Science of the Total Environment. Found “poorer inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility” in children born when mothers consumed fluoridation.  The authors said their tests measured “executive function deficits [that have been] consistently associated with behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability, and specific learning disorders”.

2023 Fluoride exposure during pregnancy from a community water supply is associated with executive function in preschool children: A prospective ecological cohort study

2022 Goodman et al July Published in Nutrient. Found that boys whose mothers had low iodine levels while pregnant lost, on average, 9.3 IQ points, while those of mothers with adequate iodine lost 5.9 IQ points, for every 1 mg/g increase in mother’s urine fluoride concentration.

Iodine Status Modifies the Association between Fluoride Exposure in Pregnancy and Preschool Boys’ Intelligence

2020 Till et al January Published in Environment International. Found that for every 1 mg/L increase in tap water fluoride there was a 9 IQ point decrease in the formula-fed infants but almost no decrease in exclusively breastfed infants.  Breastmilk is highly protective against fluoride exposure to the baby because concentrations of fluoride in breastmilk are at least 100 times lower than in formula made from fluoridated water.

Fluoride exposure from infant formula and child IQ in a Canadian birth cohort

2019 Riddell et al December Published in Environment International. Found a strong association between fluoride exposure and diagnoses of ADHD in a Canadian sample that is representative of the entire country. From a survey that is Canada’s equivalent to NHANES in the US.  Adolescents living in fluoridated places had a 3-fold greater odds of being diagnosed with ADHD as those in non-fluoridated areas.  This finding suggests that fluoridated water may cause the majority of all ADHD cases.

Association of water fluoride and urinary fluoride concentrations with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Canadian youth

2019 Green et al August Published in the prestigious JAMA Pediatrics this study looks at fluoride urine levels and fluoride exposure in pregnant Canadian women. It finds fluoride exposure from fluoridated water is significantly associated with lowered IQ in their offspring.

Association Between Maternal Fluoride Exposure During Pregnancy and IQ Scores in Offspring in Canada

2019 August Fluoride exposure may contribute to complex changes in kidney and liver related parameters among U.S. adolescents.

Fluoride exposure and kidney and liver function among adolescents in the United States: NHANES, 2013–2016.

2019 July The Canadian O’Brien Public Health Institute produced a report for the Calgary City Council. On neurotoxicity they said “The new emerging studies in this domain need to be tracked very closely, and carefully evaluated as they appear. We expect that health agencies at local, national, and international levels will confer and compare notes as they iteratively review, and re-review, this evidence”.

2019 May. “Discontinue Fluoridation to reduce fluoride exposure ” says founder and director of the Institute of Neurotoxicology and Neurological Disorders (INND)

Toxicologist Steve Gilbert, PhD, and his non-profit organization, the Institute of Neurotoxicology & Neurological Disorders, have produced a statement opposing fluoridation. It’s at his “Connecting the Dots” website

2019 April Fluoride Inhibits a Crucial Enzyme

Fluoride Exposure Induces Inhibition of Sodium-and Potassium-Activated Adenosine Triphosphatase (Na+, K+-ATPase) Enzyme Activity: Molecular Mechanisms and Implications for Public Health

2019 March Fluoride Contributes to Iodine Deficiency

Fluoride Exposure Induces Inhibition Sodium/Iodide Symporter (NIS) Contributing to Impaired Iodine Absorption and Iodine Deficiency: Molecular Mechanisms of Inhibition and Implications for Public Health

2019 March Fluoride linked to Eye disease

The Contribution of Fluoride to the Pathogenesis of Eye Diseases: Molecular Mechanisms and Implications for Public Health

2018 December World leading expert on lead warns of fluoride’s neurotoxicity

A major review article in the journal Pediatric Medicine by Dr. David Bellinger includes fluoride in a list of chemicals known or suspected to interfere with the neurodevelopment of children

2017 September Pre-natal fluoride exposure linked to lowered IQ. This study measured the fluoride urine levels of pregnant mothers and found every 1 mg/L increase in fluoride was associated with a 5 IQ point drop in their offspring. The fluoride urine levels were the same as levels found in pregnant New Zealand women.

Prenatal Fluoride Exposure and Cognitive Outcomes in Children at 4 and 6–12 Years of Age in Mexico

2015 Fluoridation linked to lower thyroid function

Are fluoride levels in drinking water associated with hypothyroidism prevalence in England? A large observational study of GP practice data and fluoride levels in drinking water

2015 US Study on ADHD published in Environmental Health
Exposure to fluoridated water and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder prevalence among children and adolescents in the United States: an ecological association

Other important developments have been:

2019 The US National Toxicology Program released its draft review of fluoride exposure. It concluded that “Fluoride is presumed to be a cognitive neurodevelopmental hazard to humans”.

2019 The US Human and Health Services reduced the maximum allowable fluoride in bottled water to 0.7ppm

2018 NZ Supreme Court rules fluoridation is compulsory medical treatment without informed consent

2016 The US Human and Health Services reduces fluoride level in fluoridated water to a maximum of 0.7ppm

2014 NZ Review
In 2014 the NZ Royal Society and the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor produced a report on fluoridation. See the Report, the criticisms and the background.