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Evidence of fluoride’s detrimental effects on the brain and central nervous system continues to mount. Among animal studies, chronic fluoride exposure in rats has been found to result in: detrimental changes in the sciatic nerve, spinal cord, and hippocampus and neocortex of the brain (Reddy et al., 2011); changes in the expression of several brain proteins, including those involved with cell signaling, energy metabolism, and protein metabolism (Ge et al., 2011); and changes in the structure and function of the synaptic interface, which would likely result in altered transmission of neural information (Zhu et al., 2011).

At least four more studies finding a link between fluoride exposure and decreased intelligence (IQ) of children were published this year, putting the total number of such studies at 25. Poureslami et al. (2011) found that children 7-9 years old living in a “high” fluoride city (2.38 mg F/L in drinking water) had significantly lower IQ scores than those living in a “low” fluoride city (0.41 mg F/L in drinking water). A previous study (Poureslami et al., 2010) had found that children 4-5 years old living in this “high” fluoride city had a daily fluoride intake of 1.71 mg. Frighteningly, this is actually less than than the average daily intake for similarly aged children in the United States (2.03 mg/day), according to a recent analysis by the U.S. EPA (2010).  

Another study similarly found a trend towards decreasing IQ in 12-14 year old children living in a “high” fluoride village (2.45 mg F/L in drinking water), compared to those living in a “low” fluoride village (0.29 mg F/L in drinking water) (Eswar et al., 2011). Taking a different approach, a study by Shivaprakash et al. (2011) found that the mean IQ score of 7-11 year-old children with dental fluorosis (66.6) was significantly lower than those without dental fluorosis (76.4), with girls being more negatively impacted than boys. Another study by Ding et al. (2011) found a very significant association between fluoride levels in children’s urine and IQ scores, with an estimated 0.59 IQ points lost for each 1 mg/L increase in urinary fluoride. It is again disturbing that similar urine fluoride levels have been observed in children (NRC, 2006) consuming what is considered the average amount of fluoride ingested by children in fluoridated communities (EPA, 2010).

Two reviews on the neurotoxicity of fluoride were also published this year. According to Valdez-Jiménez (2011), “The prolonged ingestion of [fluoride] may cause significant damage to health and particularly to the nervous system. Therefore, it is important to be aware of this serious problem and avoid the use of toothpaste and items that contain [fluoride], particularly in children as they are more susceptible to the toxic effects of [fluoride].” Spittle (2011) concluded “there is no threshold for fluoride neurotoxicity in drinking water, and the only assuredly safe level is zero.” More info …

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It is important to avoid any flouride exposure from water, food, or toothpaste. Subscribers to Frequency Foundation have access to frequencies that will remove it from the system, particularly from the brain. Political action is increasingly effective at eliminating this nuclear waste product from our food chain. Get involved.