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PaperclipPerfector  17d ago (text post)   32895 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of November 4, 2024

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Eight of nine high-quality studies examining other cognitive or neurodevelopmental outcomes reported associations with estimated fluoride exposure. Seventy-two studies assessed the association between fluoride exposure and IQ in children. Nineteen of those studies were considered to be high quality; of these, 18 reported an inverse association between estimated fluoride exposure and IQ in children. The 18 studies, which include 3 prospective cohort studies and 15 cross-sectional studies, were conducted in 5 different countries. Forty-six of the 53 low-quality studies in children also found evidence of an inverse association between estimated fluoride exposure and IQ in children.

 

Existing animal studies provide little insight into the question of whether fluoride exposure affects IQ. In addition, studies that evaluated fluoride exposure and mechanistic data in humans were too heterogenous and limited in number to make any determination on biological plausibility. The body of evidence from studies in adults is also limited and provides low confidence that fluoride exposure is associated with adverse effects on adult cognition. There is, however, a large body of evidence on associations between fluoride exposure and IQ in children. There is also some evidence that fluoride exposure is associated with other neurodevelopmental and cognitive effects in children; although, because of the heterogeneity of the outcomes, there is low confidence in the literature for these other effects. This review finds, with moderate confidence, that higher estimated fluoride exposures (e.g., as in approximations of exposure such as drinking water fluoride concentrations that exceed the World Health Organization Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality of 1.5 mg/L of fluoride) are consistently associated with lower IQ in children. More studies are needed to fully understand the potential for lower fluoride exposure to affect children’s IQ.

Thanks!

Nineteen of those studies were considered to be high quality; of these, 18 reported an inverse association between estimated fluoride exposure and IQ in children.

That... seems very bad indeed. How is this not more well known in the general public?

I have to admit I always thought the anti-fluoride people were like weird anti-science hippies.

I have to admit I always thought the anti-fluoride people were like weird anti-science hippies.

There are "The government uses fluoride for mind control" types that get the most attention in the movement.

Feels like a poison-the-well tactic, no pun intended.

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