Study raises questions about fluoride and children's IQ
Source: Washington Post
Science
Study raises questions about fluoride and children's IQ
By Ben Guarino
August 19 at 11:00 AM
A study of young children in Canada suggests those whose mothers drank fluoridated tap water while pregnant had slightly lower IQ scores than children whose mothers lived in non-fluoridated cities. But don't dash for the nearest bottled water yet. Health experts at the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Dental Association cautioned that public policy and drinking water consumption should not change on the basis of this study.
"I still stand by the weight of the best available evidence, from 70 years of study, that community water fluoridation is safe and effective," said Brittany Seymour, a dentist and spokeswoman for the American Dental Association. "If we're able to replicate findings and continue to see outcomes, that would compel us to revisit our recommendation. We're just not there yet."
The American Academy of Pediatrics, likewise, recommends fluoride in toothpastes and tooth varnishes for children because the mineral prevents tooth decay. In drinking water, "fluoridation has been incredibly protective," said Aparna Bole, a pediatrician who chairs the Council on Environmental Health at the American Academy of Pediatrics. Fluoridation reduces the prevalence of cavities by about one-fourth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC considers water fluoridation one of the 10 top health achievements of the past century, on par with vaccines and antismoking campaigns.
Bole called the new study, published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics, "an important addition to our body of knowledge. It supports the public health community's ongoing reevaluation of optimal fluoridation levels in drinking water."
In January 1945, researchers added fluoride to municipal water in Grand Rapids, Mich., the first program to enlist fluoride to protect a city's teeth. Opponents of fluoridation have since raised concerns both ludicrous -- fluoridation is not a communist plot -- and legitimate, such as fluorosis. In the mild form of fluorosis, faint white streaks appear on the teeth of young children. Severe fluorosis, which is much rarer, damages bones.
Dozens of cities in the United States and Canada, such as Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, do not add fluoride to city water. Elsewhere in the United States, fluoridation is the norm. As of 2014, per CDC data, two-thirds of people in the United States had fluoride in their drinking water. In 2015, to reduce the risk of mild fluorosis, the Department of Health and Human Services cut its fluoride recommendations almost in half, from 1.2 milligrams per liter to 0.7 milligrams per liter.
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Ben Guarino is a reporter for The Washington Post's Science section. He joined The Post in 2016. Follow https://twitter.com/bbguari
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/08/19/study-raises-questions-about-fluoride-childrens-iq/
A study has raised questions about fluoride and children's IQ.
But medical experts cautioned that recommendations should not change based on a single study.
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Published on Mar 9, 2013
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CLIP DESCRIPTION:
Ripper (Sterling Hayden) tells Mandrake (Peter Sellers) his views on why Communists don't drink water.
FILM DESCRIPTION:
In 1964, with the Cuban Missile Crisis fresh in viewers' minds, the Cold War at its frostiest, and the hydrogen bomb relatively new and frightening, Stanley Kubrick dared to make a film about what could happen if the wrong person pushed the wrong button -- and played the situation for laughs. Dr. Strangelove's jet-black satire (from a script by director Stanley Kubrick, Peter George, and Terry Southern) and a host of superb comic performances (including three from Peter Sellers) have kept the film fresh and entertaining, even as its issues have become (slightly) less timely. Loaded with thermonuclear weapons, a U.S. bomber piloted by Maj. T.J. "King" Kong (Slim Pickens) is on a routine flight pattern near the Soviet Union when they receive orders to commence Wing Attack Plan R, best summarized by Maj. Kong as "Nuclear combat! Toe to toe with the Russkies!" On the ground at Burpleson Air Force Base, Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake (Peter Sellers) notices nothing on the news about America being at war. Gen. Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) calmly informs him that he gave the command to attack the Soviet Union because it was high time someone did something about fluoridation, which is sapping Americans' bodily fluids (and apparently has something to do with Ripper's sexual dysfunction). Meanwhile, President Merkin Muffley (Sellers again) meets with his top Pentagon advisors, including super-hawk Gen. Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott), who sees this as an opportunity to do something about Communism in general and Russians in particular. However, the ante is upped considerably when Soviet ambassador de Sadesky (Peter Bull) informs Muffley and his staff of the latest innovation in Soviet weapons technology: a "Doomsday Machine" that will destroy the entire world if the Russians are attacked.
CREDITS:
TM & Sony (1964)
Cast: Sterling Hayden, Peter Sellers
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Producers: Victor Lyndon, Stanley Kubrick
Screenwriters: Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, Peter George
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The dark side of publish or die. Throw some shit together and if you're lucky, a publication will pick it up. Not exactly what I'd call advancing the body of knowledge. 
