Why is US Failing To Inform Pregnant Women to Limit Fluoride Ingestion

NEW YORK, July 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent government-funded study (Bashash et al. 2017) corroborates hundreds of previously published studies showing fluoride damages the brain. These shocking findings cannot be dismissed as "just one study" because they provide compelling evidence that pregnant women's fluoride intake is linked to lower IQ in their offspring at levels commonly consumed in the US, reports the Fluoride Action Network (FAN).

Paul Connett, FAN Director says, "We are shocked and dismayed that public health officials and the media aren't informing pregnant women to limit their fluoride intake."

The Bashash study was funded by the US National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and Environmental Protection Agency, and published in the US government journal, Environmental Health Perspectives.

This landmark study involved 299 mother-child pairs. IQ tests of the children were at age 4 and again at 6-12. After controlling for many potential confounding factors, the results show a loss of IQ points in the offspring strongly correlating with the measured amounts of fluoride in the mother's urine during pregnancy.

When the mothers' fluoride levels are compared on a graph to the children's IQ scores, an increase in urine fluoride of 1 mg/liter is associated with a loss of 5 to 6 IQ points. The correlation is statistically significant at a 95 percent confidence level, which means that the results of this study are very reliable.

"These findings are highly relevant to Americans because 1 mg/liter corresponds to the difference in urine fluoride levels between adults living in communities that add fluoride to their drinking water compared to communities that don't add fluoride," says Connett.

In news stories, fluoridation advocates use a few limited or poorly done studies to dismiss hundreds of studies linking fluoride to negative brain effects.

"There is no longer any doubt that fluoride gets into the brain and causes damage," says Connett. "Fluoride doesn't belong in our brains or in our water. It's time to invoke the precautionary principle and stop artificial fluoridation worldwide."

FAN has begun the Moms2B Avoid Fluoride campaign to inform women and families about this study and the need to limit fluoride intake during pregnancy – see http://fluoridealert.org/issues/moms2b/.

SOURCE Fluoride Action Network

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