A new meta-analysis found that fluoride can have a detrimental effect on the health of pregnant women, the fetus, and infants.
The analysis reviewed multiple studies observing the impact of fluoride exposure on pregnant women and infants. It was found that high levels of fluoride can lead to adverse developmental outcomes, including decreased IQ and cognitive impairments in children. The findings suggest the need for reconsideration of fluoride levels in drinking water and dental products to safeguard maternal and infant health.
According to the study, published in the Annual Review of Public Health, systemic fluoride exposure can also have a detrimental effect on bone strength, cognitive development and thyroid function. Study author Phillipe Grandjean, from the University of Southern Denmark, is a leading researcher on fluoride toxicity. Grandjean participated in the latest meta-analysis and has long warned about the dangers of this mineral either from community drinking water or in toothpaste.
“The weight of epidemiological evidence leaves no reasonable doubt that developmental neurotoxicity is a serious human health risk associated with elevated fluoride exposure, including those occurring at the levels added to drinking water in fluoridated areas. The IQ losses associated with community water fluoridation are substantial and of significant public health concern,” he has stated, according to the Fluoride Action Network.
According to the New York Times, the greatest benefit of fluoride is that it improves children’s oral health and prevents tooth decay that can cause loss of teeth. Research also suggests that water fluoridation is associated with a 27% decline in adult cavities, too. This reduction can lower the risk of heart disease, say experts.
The concerns about the negative effect of fluoride on our health is directly linked to exposure. Most water supplies in the U.S. contain 0.7 milligrams per liter, the limit set by the U.S. Public Health Service. But 5% of systems have levels that are double that amount and 0.3% have more than four milligrams of fluoride per liter of water, says the Times.
In 2019, a study published in JAMA Pediatrics found that fluoride exposure during pregnancy was associated with lower IQ scores in children aged three to four years. The researchers suggested that there is a “possible need to reduce fluoride intake during pregnancy.”
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called for all U.S, systems to remove fluoride from public water. He said on X that “Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease.”
The American Dental Association says that adding fluoride to public water supplies is an effective way to prevent tooth decay. A 2018 study found that U.S kids living in communities without fluoridated water had 39% more cavities in their baby teeth and 16% more in their permanent teeth.
So, while experts disagree about the evidence, leading researchers suggest that there is enough evidence to recommend that pregnant women limit their fluoride intake. Parents who want to minimize the risk of dental fluorosis in infants can use fluoride-free water to mix their formula.
More than 200 million Americans, or about 75% of the population, currently drink fluoridated water.
"The entire benefit of it comes from topical application ... there's really no reason to have it in the water supply in this era where we have toothpaste and mouthwashes," argues Kennedy.
Kennedy said he plans to tell the CDC to stop recommending the addition of fluoride to drinking water, the Associated Press reported.