Certain Fluoride Unsafe for Children's Developing Brains

Introduction

"There is little doubt that developmental neurotoxicity is a serious risk associated with elevated fluoride exposure, whether due to community water fluoridation, natural fluoride release from soil minerals, or tea consumption, especially when the exposure occurs during early [brain] development," writes Harvard Professor and researcher Phillipe Grandjean(1), MD, in a review of recent fluoride neurotoxicology research (Environmental Health(2) Dec 2019); reports the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc. (NYSCOF).

Main Item

Fluoridation began without brain-safety evidence seven decades ago. Today, 400+ studies(3) link fluoride to neurological effects - providing evidence that fluoride can be perilous to babies' brains, especially.

Grandjean, who studies how environmental chemicals affect children's brain development, says fluoridation benefits appear minimal. But, the evidence base for fluoride's brain damage greatly expanded and is likely underestimated, he explains.

"The time has come for health agencies in the US and elsewhere to revisit the fluoride regulations and make it a priority to protect the brains of the next generation," he writes(4). "Elevations in human exposures [from multiple sources] may well exceed the [fluoride] levels that human metabolism can successfully accommodate."

Fluoridation produced a fluoridated food supply and lucrative marketing of hundreds of fluoridated dental products. The result: fluoride overdose (dental fluorosis) grew in severity and prevalence(5).

That dental fluorosis is merely of cosmetic concern is unconvincing. Fluorosis can be a useful biomarker for fluoride's brain exposure, Grandjean suggests.

Several studies, specifically, associate dental fluorosis with children's intellectual deficits (e.g. Yu, et al. (6)).

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The view that fluoride is primarily a developmental neurotoxicant means that fluoride - an element like lead, mercury, and arsenic - can adversely affect children's brain development at exposures much below that of adults, he cautions.

When environmental chemicals affect developing brains, children risk cognitive deficits, learning disabilities, ADHD, autism, and other disorders that remain for a lifetime, explains Grandjean in his recent book (7). He laments that vested interests often manipulate credible chemical brain-drain(8) research to manufacture unfounded uncertainties to wrongly discredit respected scientists' conclusions and credibility.

"This is a common tactic of fluoridationists," says attorney Paul Beeber, NYSCOF President. "Few lobbied legislators understand fluoridation science. Lawmakers should err on the side of caution - not ignorance or from political pressure."

Studies already link fluoride to ADHD(9), lower IQ(10), Autism(11), poor memory(12), dementia(13), and Alzheimer's Disease(14).

References

• (1) - Philippe Grandjean, MD.
• (2) - Developmental fluoride neurotoxicity: an updated review.
• (3) - Fluoride Alert.
• (4) - Chemical Brain Drain.
• (5) - Dental Fluorosis Trends in United States Oral Health Surveys: 1986 - 2012.
• (6) - Threshold effects of moderately excessive fluoride exposure on children's health: A potential association between dental fluorosis and loss of excellent intelligence.
• (7) - Only one chance: How environmental pollution impairs brain development-and how to protect the brains of the next generation.
• (8) - Chemical Brain Drain.
• (9) - Association of water fluoride and urinary fluoride concentrations with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Canadian youth.
• (10) - Fluoride & IQ: The 64 Studies.
• (11) - Chronic Fluoride Exposure and the Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder.
• (12) - The Auditory Working Memory of 13-15-Year-Old Adolescents Using Water with Varying Fluoride Concentrations from Selected Public Primary Schools in North Kajiado Sub County.
• (13) - Aluminium and fluoride in drinking water in relation to later dementia risk.
• (14) - Potential Role of Fluoride in the Etiopathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease.

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Attribution/Source(s):

This quality-reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World due to its significant relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc., and published on 2020/03/02 (Edit Update: 2023/09/16), the content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity. For further details or clarifications, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc. can be contacted at fluoridealert.org. NOTE: Disabled World does not provide any warranties or endorsements related to this article.

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Cite This Page (APA): New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc.. (2020, March 2 - Last revised: 2023, September 16). Certain Fluoride Unsafe for Children's Developing Brains. Disabled World. Retrieved December 5, 2024 from www.disabled-world.com/disability/children/fluoride-unsafe.php

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