High levels of fluoride in drinking water dramatically lower IQ levels in children, Harvard scientists have discovered. The difference could be enough to cause learning difficulties in children who already had a lower IQ.
Fluoride’s effects on intelligence could begin in the womb as it can pass through the placenta, say scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Their study – which analysed 27 previously-published papers – is the first to confirm that fluoride affects the intelligence of children. They found a direct link between IQ scores and the levels of fluoride in the public water supply; those in low-fluoride areas were consistently recording IQ scores that were 0.45 higher than children in high-fluoride regions. The differences were significant, say the researchers, and could have a substantial impact on learning disabilities, especially in those at the low end of the IQ spectrum.
Fluoride is a neurotoxin, and people can be ingesting 1000 times more of this neurotoxin than any other that can affect brain development.
(Source: Environmental Health Perspectives, 2012; published online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1104912).
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