Higher Levels of Fluoride in Urine Linked to Lower IQ Scores in Mexican Children Robert Scott - Gears of Biz
go to original September 20, 2017

Researchers have found a link between fluoride in the urine of pregnant women and lower measures of intelligence in children.

For years, many communities have added fluoride to drinking water to help reduce cavities. But a new study that has found a link between fluoride levels in pregnant women and lower intelligence in their children may provide further ammunition for those who are calling that practice into question.

In the first study of its kind, investigators at the University of Toronto, McGill, the Harvard School of Public Health, and other institutions have found a link between fluoride in the urine of pregnant women and lower measures of intelligence in children.

In the study released last week in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, the researchers say they looked at 287 pairs of mothers and children in Mexico City at multiple stages of neurodevelopment. The study recruited pregnant women from 1994 to 2005, taking urine samples from the mothers during pregnancy and from their children between six and 12 years of age to assess their exposures to fluoride.

They then analyzed how fluoride in the pregnant mothers’ urine related to measures of intelligence. Those measures included the children’s verbal abilities at age four, as well as their perceptual performance, memory, and motor abilities. They were tested again for the same things between the ages of six and 12.

The researchers found a statistically significant connection between high levels of fluoride in the mothers when they were pregnant and lower scores on these intelligence measures. There was no link between the children’s own urinary fluoride levels and their test scores.

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