Study Knocks Link between Fluoridated Water and IQ Deficit

A latest Dunedin study debunks the association between fluoridated water and poor mental development in children.

The study, conducted by researchers at the New University of Otago, based their finding on the analysis of over 1000 people born in Dunedin in 1972-1973 till age 38.

The researchers mainly focused on the subjects' exposure to fluoride during the first five years of their lives as this period is extremely crucial for brain development.

The study was led by Dr Jonathan Broadbent and colleagues.  They began by observing the average IQ score of the subjects at ages 7-13 and also at age 38. Apart from this, they even looked at the subtest scores of the subjects' verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory and the rate at which the subjects processed information. Data was available of 992 subjects in childhood and 942 in adulthood.

To proceed with the analysis, the researchers took into consideration certain factors that are linked with variation in IQ including socio-economic status of the parents, birth weight and breastfeeding. Factors associated with adult IQ were also controlled like secondary and tertiary educational achievement.

"Our analysis showed no significant differences in IQ by fluoride exposure, even before controlling for the other factors that might influence scores. In line with other studies, we found breastfeeding was associated with higher child IQ, and this was regardless of whether children grew up in fluoridated or non-fluoridated areas," Dr Boradbent said in news statement.

Previous studies that highlighted the association between fluoridated water and IQ deficits relied mostly on poor research methodology.

"Our findings will hopefully help to put another nail in the coffin of the complete canard that fluoridating water is somehow harmful to children's development. In reality, the total opposite is true, as it helps reduce the tooth decay blighting the childhood of far too many New Zealanders," researchers claim.

According to the National Cancer Institute, nearly 60 percent of the U.S. population has access to fluoridated water through public water systems. Researchers conducted earlier have highlighted the possibility of cancer due to fluoridated water.

The study is published in the American Journal of Public Health.