Formula-fed babies in fluoridated towns suffer 7 IQ loss

In the first 3 years of life children lose 4.4 IQ points for every 0.5 mg fluoride added to their drinking water if they are formula-fed rather than breast-fed. This is the finding of a particularly well-conducted study from Canada just published in the prestigious journal Environment International. Babies exclusively breast-fed for the first 6 months suffered no statistically significant IQ loss.

In NZ that means a 7 IQ point loss. That is huge. That is 1 ¾ times the IQ loss caused by leaded petrol. (Councils add about 0.8 mg fluoride per litre to municipal water supplies to achieve the Ministry of Health’s recommended target of 8.5 mg/l.)

In August, a ground-breaking study by Green et al published in JAMA Pediatrics found that Canadian boys exposed to fluoride in-utero had significantly lowered IQ (4.5 IQ points per 1 mg/L increase). Levels of fluoride exposure were in the same range as found in research conducted in Palmerston North. The study also found a 1 mg higher daily intake of fluoride among pregnant women was associated with a 3.66 lower IQ score in boys and girls.

Both studies were funded by the US Government’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. There are now five recent studies finding neurotoxic harm from early life exposure to fluoride from two research groups funded by the NIEHS, and are among over 60 human studies that have found fluoride is a neurotoxin. These latest studies are the highest quality epidemiological studies on fluoride ever conducted.

The US National Toxicology Program has recently reviewed the research on fluoride and neurotoxicity. Based on the large number, quality, and consistency of the studies, the NTP has concluded fluoride is a “presumed” neurotoxin.

The NZ Supreme Court has ruled that water fluoridation constitutes compulsory medical treatment, as it is not practically possible to avoid it once it is in the water.

Local councils still have the statutory decision over water fluoridation. We call on the the 22 (out of 67) fluoridating councils to impose a moratorium until those who promote this compulsory mass medication can prove beyond reasonable doubt that it is safe. Indeed, it is councils’ statutory duty under both the Health Act and the Local Government Act to protect the public health by removing this health risk to the communities they serve.

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