Fluoride Children Exposure [Fluoride health effects]

INFANT EXPOSURE

Teeth are not the only tissue that can be affected by fluoride exposure during infancy.

A baby’s blood brain barrier is not fully developed at birth, and this allows fluoride, a neurotoxin, greater access to the brain than in later periods in life. Over 30 studies have associated elevated fluoride exposure with neurological impairment in children, which may, in part, result from fluoride’s affect on the thyroid gland.

In light of the serious nature of these effects, and the lack of benefit from pre-eruptive ingestion of fluoride, basic precautionary principles strongly counsel against exposing infants to any fluoride.

**NEW RELEVANT STUDY**

Till et al. (2019) reported lower IQ at between 3 and 4 years of age.

This newest study, released on November 18, is titled Fluoride exposure from infant formula and child IQ in a Canadian birth cohort.

This study was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and published in Environment International. The authors “examined whether feeding status (breast-fed versus formula-fed) modified the impact of water fluoride and if fluoride exposure during fetal development attenuated this effect.”

The mothers urinary fluoride (MUF) levels were used as a proxy of fetal fluoride exposure. A second model estimated the association between fluoride intake from formula and child IQ. According to the authors: