Abstract
Municipal fluoridation was a mid-twentieth century innovation based on the medical hypothesis that consuming low doses of fluoride when young provided protection against cavities with only a small risk of mild dental fluorosis, a cosmetic effect. In the 21st century, more than half of American teens are afflicted by dental fluorosis with approximately one in five having moderate to severe dental fluorosis in at least two teeth. Scientific literature since the 1990s has found that even low doses of fluoride adversely affect cognitive-behavioral development and that deficits are correlated with the severity of dental fluorosis in afflicted individuals. Evidence of neurotoxic impact from low dose systemic exposure to fluoride prompted an investigation by a branch of the governmental agency that has promoted fluoridation policy since its 1940?s inception. This review identifies ten significant flaws in the design of an animal experiment conducted by the U.S. National Toxicology Program as part of that investigation into the neurotoxic impact of systemic prenatal and postnatal fluoride exposure. The authors hypothesize that organizational bias can and does compromise the integrity of fluoride research.
Excerpt:
The following are major flaws in the McPherson et. al, 2018 [23] NTP animal experiment:
2. The NTP study only used male rat pups. This is an odd decision because their own NTP review identified a lack of evidence in comparing responses between genders as a knowledge gap. In humans, females respond differently to fluoride toxicity…
3. Although the study was supposed to approximate the cognitive behavioral effect when exposed to fluoride throughout pregnancy and/or through bottle-feeding with formula made with fluoridated water, the dams were not exposed to fluoride during the first trimester of pregnancy (until day G6)…
4. There was no valid effort made to expose newborn rats to fluoridated water during their nursing period that in any way approximated the real world experience of bottle-fed babies living in fluoridated communities…
8. The NTP study did not consider multi-generational impact on neurobehavior, which was first studied by Mullinex et al. in 1995 [28]…
References:
[23] McPherson CA, Zhang G, Gilliam R, Brar SS, Wilson R, Brix A, et al. An evaluation of neurotoxicity following fluoride exposure from gestational through adult ages in Long-Evans hooded rats. Neurotox Res 2018.
[28] Mullenix PJ, Denbesten PK, Schunior A, Kernan WJ. Neurotoxicity of sodium fluoride in rats. Neurotoxicol Teratol 1995;17(2):169–77.
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