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Fluoride in drinking water has no effect on IQ or brain function, long-term study shows (twin-cities.umn.edu)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by Deep@mander.xyz to c/science@mander.xyz

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The study, published in PNAS, examined Wisconsin state testing records, archival information about when Wisconsin cities began to fluoridate their water, and data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, which has followed a random sample of 10,317 high school seniors from 1957 through 2026. Key findings include:

There is no evidence supporting a connection between community water fluoridation and children’s IQ.

There is also no evidence supporting a connection between community water fluoridation and cognitive functioning at various points later in life.

Findings confirm evidence published in previous research which also used a national sample, but considered school achievement test scores instead of actual IQ scores.

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[-] sbeak@sopuli.xyz 13 points 1 day ago

For your information if you think fluoridation of water is bad:

Fluoride in the water is the opposite of bad, it’s good for your teeth. It’s in toothpaste for a reason! There is no reasonable evidence that fluoride causes any major health problems, in fact, the fluoridation of water is dubbed as one of the largest public health accomplishments in a while. In addition, the fluoride added to water is miniscule, tiny, far far too low in concentration to be toxic. 0.7-1.2 mg / L is the range that most countries that implement water fluoridation add to their water supply. For reference, the WHO recommends 1.5 mg / L as the upper limit. Additionally, in many places, the groundwater has fluoride levels a bit higher than that.It also occurs in plenty of foods naturally too (fruits, seafood, spinach, etc.)

Some more information of fluoride:

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/11195-fluoride

https://www.cdc.gov/oral-health/prevention/about-fluoride.html

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S000291652334718X

In many countries, particularly in developing nations, fluoridation of water is too expensive (since you need the infrastructure for it), and fluoride toothpastes are preferred instead. But in industrialised countries, where infrastructure for managing the water supply already exists, fluoridation of water is more effective.

Ireland and England both implement the fluoridation of water. In particular, 73% of Ireland’s population drinks fluoridised water

https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2016/04/13/water-fluoridation-what-it-is-and-how-it-helps-dental-health/ (UK) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4081215/ (Ireland)

Additionally, so does Canada:

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/health/publications/healthy-living/fluoride-factsheet.html https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/healthy-living/community-water-fluoridation-across-canada.html

Other solutions to provide fluoride have also been pursued, such as in toothpastes (already mentioned), iodized salts, and milk. They each have varying effectiveness depending on the country.

TLDR:

Fluoride added to water is too low to pose any significant health problems
There are no studies to suggest that the 0.5-1.5 mg / L range that the WHO promotes is dangerous
It's not just the U.S., fluoridisation of water is present in Ireland, England, and Canada
For the countries that do not pursue adding it to water, fluoridation is done through toothpastes, iodized salts, and milk
Different strategies of fluoridation are pursued because some are more effective than others for that given region (e.g. toothpastes are more viable than treatment of water in developing nations)
Fluoride is already present in many natural sources (fruits, veg, groundwater, etc.) and is safe in the recommended low concentrations (need to reiterate this!)