2014-11-29

over-fluoridated water might lower IQ

2.13: summary:
. usa's legal fluoride limit may be
higher than needed to control cavities;
and cavity-fighting levels of fluoride
may not significantly lower IQ;
but fluoride is an unnecessary expense:
only people who eat grains and sugar
get the cavities that need to be
patched by this added fluoride .

2.11: news.health/fluoride/fluoridated water lowers IQ:
globalresearch writing about
Harvard School for Public Health
(Environ Health Perspect.
2012 October; 120(10): 1362–1368):
In a meta-analysis, researchers from
Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)
and China Medical University in Shenyang
combined 27 studies and found strong indications
that fluoride may adversely affect
cognitive development in children.
Based on the findings,
the authors say that this risk should not be ignored,
and that more research is warranted
on fluoride’s impact on the developing brain .
. children in high-fluoride areas
had about 7-point lower IQ scores
than those who lived in low-fluoride areas.
“Fluoride seems to fit in with
lead, mercury, and other poisons
that cause chemical brain drain,” Grandjean says.
"The effect of each toxicant may seem small,
but the combined damage on a population scale
can be serious ..."
2.13: web: rebuttals:
"Moth" June 2013:
Anti-fluoridation advocates list favoured papers
that find links between fluoride exposure and reduced IQ;
However, no relevant studies of fluoridated water
look at populations with fluoridation concentrations
within the range recommended by the WHO.
The rest are more than 2 to 3 times this level!
Slate`There’s another problem:
The research didn’t account for
other potential causes of the lowered IQ;
eg, Were the kids in fluoride-contaminated areas
also exposed to lead?
The authors of the meta-analysis don’t know.
... The children could also have differed in
socio-economic status or education,
both of which can affect intelligence.
[Slate magazine] reached out to
the U.S.-based co-author of the study, Anna Choi,
an environmental health scientist at the
Harvard School of Public Health.
She [said] the results
“do not allow us to make any judgment
regarding possible levels of risk
at levels of exposure typical for
water fluoridation in the U.S.”
She added, however, that
it’s also impossible to conclude
that American kids are not at any risk .
Slate`bottom line:
. usa's recommended fluoride level is voluntary;
the EPA's legal limit is a bit higher,
and that limit has not been proven safe .

1 comment:

Philip Torrance (ADDN) said...


2.14: scienceofmom`19% have naturally toxic levels:

. 1992 data estimated that 10 million people in the U.S.
have naturally fluoridated water.
Of these, most have low concentrations,
but 19% have greater than 2.0 mg/L,
the concentration at which some research suggests
we should be concerned.
Some areas are naturally very rich in fluoride
– concentrations have been measured as high as
13 mg/L in parts of New Mexico
and 15.9 mg/L in Idaho.