Yet another study shows fluoride exposure lowers IQ

The evidence that fluoride lowers IQ, even at levels used for fluoridation in New Zealand, keeps mounting. A new study from Bangladesh has found that fluoride in water at actually lower levels than used in New Zealand can harm children’s cognitive abilities. This was a gold standard study published in a prestigious US Government journal.

It is unconscionable that with the large and ever-growing volume of scientific evidence that fluoride lowers IQ, the New Zealand Ministry of Health is still promoting fluoridation. In fact, they are not just “promoting” fluoridation, the Director-General is forcing councils to add this neurotoxin (comparable to Lead) to the water supply.  

The study found that urinary fluoride concentrations equivalent to 0.72 mg/l in water (NZ fluoridates at 0.85 mg/l) measured prenatally and during childhood were associated with lower cognitive abilities, especially perceptual reasoning and verbal abilities, in Bangladeshi children.

The study used a “prospective” study design to assess the impact of prenatal fluoride exposure – which is the gold standard approach in epidemiology – and controlled for many other factors that can influence IQ besides fluoride.

Researchers studied 500 mother-child pairs from the MINIMat (Maternal and Infant Nutrition Interventions in Matlab) birth cohort in rural Bangladesh. Urinary fluoride concentrations were measured in the pregnant women at gestational week 8 and in their children at 5 and 10 years. Water fluoride concentrations were also measured at the 10-year-old visit.

Children’s IQs were measured at ages 5 and 10 years using age-appropriate Wechsler IQ tests.

Results:

Maternal urinary fluoride concentrations (median: 0.63 mg/L, 5th–95th percentiles: 0.26–1.41 mg/L) were inversely associated with full-scale raw scores at 5 and 10 years -2.8 and -4.9 IQ points respectively, by exposure doubling). In cross-sectional analysis at 10 years, child urinary fluoride (overall median: 0.66 mg/L and above 0.72 mg/L) was inversely associated with full-scale raw scores of -12.1 IQ points. The association at 5 years was also negative but non-significant. For both prenatal and childhood exposure, associations were most noticeable with perceptual reasoning, but also verbal scores. The estimate for the association between urinary fluoride at 10 years and perceptual reasoning became 18% lower after adjustment for prenatal exposure. Non consistent sex-specific differences were observed.

It is well past time when anyone can honestly and legitimately deny harm is being caused by fluoridation. The Minister of Health, Simeon Brown, needs to step up and stop this deliberate mass poisoning. As Minister of Health that buck ultimately stops with him. And as a young man, he will most probably still be alive when fluoridation is looked back on in horror as we do with the use of leeches for blood-letting or the persecution of doctors in the mid-1800s who insisted on washing their hands between patients.