Children exposed to higher fluoride levels found to have lower IQs, study reveals

The debate about the benefits and risks of fluoride is ongoing, as RFK Jr.— incoming President Trump’s pick for HHS secretary — pushes to remove it from the US water supply.“Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders and thyroid disease,” RFK wrote in a post on X in November.A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics on Jan.

6 found another correlation between fluoride exposure and children’s IQs.Study co-author Kyla Taylor, PhD, who is based in North Carolina, noted that fluoridated water has been used “for decades” to reduce dental cavities and improve oral health.“However, there is concern that pregnant women and children are getting fluoride from many sources, including drinking water, water-added foods and beverages, teas, toothpaste, floss and mouthwash, and that their total fluoride exposure is too high and may affect fetal, infant and child neurodevelopment,” she told Fox News Digital.The new research, led by scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, analyzed 74 epidemiological studies on children’s IQ and fluoride exposure.The studies measured fluoride in drinking water and urine across 10 countries, including Canada, China, Denmark, India, Iran, Mexico, Pakistan, New Zealand, Spain and Taiwan.(None were conducted in the US)The meta-analysis found a “statistically significant association” between higher fluoride exposure and lower children’s IQ scores, according to Taylor.“[It showed] that the more fluoride a child is exposed to, the more likely that child’s IQ will be lower than if they were not exposed,” she said.These results were consistent with six previous meta-analyses, all of which reported the same “statistically significant inverse associations” between fluoride exposure and children’s IQs, Taylor emphasized.The research found that for every 1mg/L increase in urinary fluoride, there was a 1.63-poin...