Fluoride Lowers Your IQ - A Debated Truth?

There is a great deal of controversy revolving around the addition of fluoride in many communities’ drinking water. While some individuals claim that fluoride is safe and even beneficial at low levels of ingestion, many others point to research showcasing fluorides many’s dangers.

Among the dangers being voiced is the possible reduction in IQ upon fluoride consumption. Is it true that fluoride lowers your IQ? The research shows that this may indeed be one of many debated truths.

One study previously published in Environmental Health Perspectives, a publication of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, shows how fluoride exposure can lower children’s intelligence. For the study, 512 children from two Chinese villages aged 8-13 were studied and tested. Lead exposure and iodine deficiency were eliminated for possible reasons for reduced IQ. Children who had brain disease or a head injury were excluded as well.

What the researchers found was that about 28% of children in areas with low fluoride received higher scores, compared to only 8% in the area with “high” fluoride levels.

In addition, 15% of the children in the city with high fluoride levels received scores indicating mental retardation, while 6% of children in the low-fluoride city possessed the same indication.

‘In this study we found a significant dose-response relation between fluoride level in serum and children’s IQ…This is the 24th study that has found this association, but this study is stronger than the rest because the authors have controlled for key confounding variables and in addition to correlating lowered IQ with levels of fluoride in the water, the authors found a correlation between lowered IQ and fluoride levels in children’s blood. This brings us closer to a cause and effect relationship between fluoride exposure and brain damage in children. What is also striking is that the levels of the fluoride in the community where the lowered IQs were recorded were lower than the EPA’s so-called ‘safe’ drinking water standard for fluoride of 4 ppm and far too close for comfort to the levels used in artificial fluoridation programs (0.7 – 1.2 ppm),’ says Paul Connett, Ph.D. and director of the Fluoride Action Network.

Interestingly, there are 23 other human studies conducted also indicating that fluoride lowers your IQ, and an additional 100+ animal studies drawing similar conclusions. All of the studies collectively show how fluoride negatively impacts brain function, and and yet many individuals continue to attest to the fluoride safety.

The connection between fluoride and declining brain function undoubtedly makes up only a portion of why communities are attempting to end water fluoridation; mainstream news is acknowledging its negative effects, and even a number of professional dentists are speaking out against its use and distribution. Even ignoring the dangers of fluoride and how fluoride lowers your IQ, fluoride supplements have also been shown to have little benefit.

There are many reasons why someone would want to invest in a water filtration system to treat their water – the addition of fluoride in our water supplies is just one of them.

Additional sources:
Environmental Health Perspectives
Fluoride Action Network

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This article first appeared at Natural Society, an excellent resource for health news and vaccine information.