The US Government’s National Toxicology Program (NTP) is set to conduct new studies looking at fluoride’s adverse effects on the developing brain. The NTP is expected to ratify these studies within the coming months. Results could mean the end to fluoridation world-wide, and definitely should put a halt to any plans to start fluoridation in places not currently fluoridated.
Because it is well established that fluoride affects the brain, the NTP plans to conduct new animal studies to determine the lowest dose at which this damage occurs. They also plan to do a systematic review of all the existing scientific literature. To date, there have been 314 studies that have investigated fluoride’s effects on the brain and nervous system. These include 181 animal studies, 112 human studies, and 21 cell studies.
In 2012, a team of Harvard scientists published a meta-review of available fluoride/IQ research which concluded that elevated fluoride exposure is consistently associated with reductions in childhood intelligence.
In 2014, a study in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet concluded that fluoride is one of only 11 chemicals that can now be classified as a known developmental neurotoxin in humans. Fluoride is no longer classified as a nutrient.
Fluoridationists claim that fluoride only reduces IQ at high doses but this is not true. There are already existing studies that have found IQ loss at, or near, the levels used for fluoridation in New Zealand.
Fluoridationists also claim that “many studies” show the safety of fluoridation, and that the “science is settled.” The NTP’s proposed study confirms that these claims are also not true, as: (1) a substantial body of scientific research indicates that fluoride negatively impacts brain development, and (2) despite our widespread exposures to this neurotoxin, government health officials have little idea whether our current exposures are causing harm.
The NTP proposal thus puts in stark relief what has been known for 70 years and accepted across Europe for half a century: that fluoridation of water forces millions of people to be exposed to a very dangerous chemical in their daily drinking and bathing water and the countless processed foods and beverages made with this intentionally contaminated water.
Calls from dentists to start fluoridation in Nelson and South Canterbury show they have become so entrenched in their belief that they have failed to notice the overwhelming evidence that ingestion of fluoride does not reduce dental decay and that there are serious adverse health effects in doing so. Maybe now, these officials will see that a child’s brain development is the paramount consideration.