Harvard: Fluoride During Childhood Can Lower IQ and Delay Neurological Development

A systematic review by Harvard researchers of eligible studies examining the adverse effects of exposure to fluoride reveals the potential for lower IQ and delayed neurobehavioral development in children.

Are you still drinking fluoridated water, using fluoride toothpaste, or permitting the dentist to administer fluoride treatments on your children?  

Even worse, are you using fluoride tablets thinking this will somehow help prevent cavities? 

If so, you may need to consider using a boron supplement to detoxify fluoride.

Parents: It’s time to wake up about this neurotoxic substance and its effects on growing children. 

The strong evidence that fluoride negatively impacts neurological development even to the point of lowering IQ just keeps growing.

One of the strongest nails in the coffin for fluoride comes from the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

A thorough and systematic review of eligible studies published by Harvard researchers found adverse effects of exposure to fluoride and the potential of delayed neurobehavioral development in children.

Fluoride and IQ

The findings of the Harvard researchers are nothing short of disturbing.

… children in high fluoride areas had significantly lower IQ scores than those who lived in low fluoride areas. (1)

As a result of their analysis, the researchers concluded the following about fluoride exposure:

The results support the possibility of an adverse effect of high fluoride exposure on children’s neurodevelopment. Future research should include detailed individual-level information on prenatal exposure, neurobehavioral performance, and covariates for adjustment. (1)

EPA Classifies Fluoride as Neurotoxic

This research dovetails with what the EPA already knows having classified fluoride as a chemical for which there is substantial evidence of toxicity to neurodevelopment. (2)

Some communities around North America are taking action by voting to have fluoride removed from the drinking water, something that most other countries have already done. (3)

While important, having your children drink pure, clean water not treated with fluoride is only the first step in protecting them from the devastating neurological impact of fluoride exposure.

10 Ways to Limit Fluoride Exposure

These ten tips are recommended by the Fluoride Action Network as the best ways to protect from the neurological ravages of excessive fluoride exposure. (4)

1. Stop drinking fluoridated water immediately. These water filters remove fluoride (most do not!).
2. Be sure to use only non-fluoride toothpaste brands. Even if a child doesn’t swallow any fluoride toothpaste while brushing, this tiny mineral easily gets into the bloodstream via ultra-thin gum tissue. Consider making an easy DIY remineralizing toothpaste.
3. Do not allow fluoride gel treatments at the dentist for any reason. Find a holistic or biological dentist who will let you opt out without any hassle!
4. Eat more fresh food and less processed food as the more processed a food is, the more fluoride it will actually have.
5. Buy organic grape juice and wine.
6. Use organic tea or reduce tea consumption. Another option is to use white tea made from younger tea leaves. Beware: bottled teas are the worst possibly including commercially made kombucha. Be sure to avoid fluoride in homemade kombucha with the simple tips listed in the linked article.
7. Avoid cooking in Teflon pans.
8. Don’t take Cipro if you can possibly avoid it and be aware of the fluoride content of many pharmaceuticals.
9. Avoid mechanically deboned chicken as fluoride concentrates most heavily in the bone and bone fragments end up in machine processed meat.
10. Avoid fluoridated salt. Opt for natural, unprocessed sea salts instead (this is my favorite, tested to be free of contaminants).

References

(1) Developmental fluoride neurotoxicity: a systematic review and meta-analysis
(2) EPA Toxicity Forecasting (snapshot from internet archive as original PDF censored from EPA website)
(3) Countries that do not fluoridate water
(4) Ways to Reduce Fluoride Exposure