The recent U.S. government-funded study (Malin et al., 2024) published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) linking fluoride exposures experienced in fluoridated Los Angeles, California during pregnancy with a doubling of the odds of several neurobehavioral problems for the child, has received extensive media coverage across North America and also throughout the world.
The study and the accompanying press releases from the affiliated academic institutions were published on the morning of Monday, May 20th, and just a few hours later, the Fluoride Action Network (FAN) published and shared our press release and more comprehensive bulletin on the subject.
- Keck School of Medicine of USC Press Release
- University of Florida College of Public Health & Health Professionals Press Release
- FAN’s press release and our more comprehensive bulletin
Over the days following the publication of the study, major news outlets like the New York Times, Newsweek, LA Times, NBC, Sydney Morning Herald, and DailyMail UK wrote articles that were likely viewed by millions of people throughout fluoridated countries like the US, Canada, and Australia, as well as the UK, which is currently facing a threat of fluoridation expansion. The media couldn’t ignore this study, as it was the first US-based birth cohort study on fluoride neurotoxicity, it was affiliated with a major US academic institution (USC) that conducted outreach to journalists, and was published in a high-impact medical journal.
Most media outlets published fairly objective and informative articles, warning parents of the potential risk, printing good quotes from experts, mentioning our federal lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency, mentioning the 2019 JAMA fluoride/IQ study, and mentioning the recent National Toxicology Program’s review of fluoride neurotoxicity.
Below, I have provided a robust sampling of the media coverage this study received. Many of these original articles were reprinted by dozens of other local traditional outlets (newspaper, TV, and radio) and online news publications. Most news aggregators also re-shared these articles, like MSN, Yahoo, and Physician’s Weekly. Some outlets were more objective than others, with the best coverage coming from Newsweek and the Los Angeles Times, while only a handful of journalists wrote articles designed to defend and promote fluoridation. The list below is arranged to share the better coverage near the top and the more biased coverage towards the bottom.
Media Coverage
Newsweek:
Scientists Sound Alarm Over Drinking Tap Water When Pregnant
Los Angeles Times (also reprinted by the Seattle Times):
Pregnant? Researchers Want You to Know Something About Fluoride
City News Service (reprinted in LA Daily News, Epoch Times, & many local California newspapers & radio stations):
Keck Medicine USC Study Shows Fluoride Exposure Impacts Babies’ Brains
NBC News:
Doctor Discusses New Study on Fluoride in Water | 9news.com
New York Times:
Is Fluoridated Drinking Water Safe for Pregnant Women?
UK Daily Mail:
CBS:
Gizmodo:
Fluoride Exposure in the Womb Could Lead to Later Problems in Kids
Children’s Health Defense:
HealthNews:
Fluoride Exposure During Pregnancy Linked to Autism-like Behaviors in Children
Dr. Mercola:
Fluoride Could Be Putting Your Fetus’ Neurological Development at Risk
Philly Voice:
Drinking Fluoridated Water During Pregnancy May Harm Fetal Brain Development, Study Finds
National Pulse:
High Fluoride Levels in Water ‘Risk to the Developing Brain’
Nigeria National Daily:
Higher Fluoride Levels in Pregnant Women Tied to Children’s Neurobehavioral Problems, Study Shows
US News & World Reports / HealthDay:
For Pregnant Women, Fluoridated Drinking Water Might Raise Risks for Baby: Study
Medical Daily:
Fluoride Exposure During Pregnancy Increases Risk of Neurobehavioral Issues In Toddlers: Study
Express UK:
Pregnant Women Face Huge Risk in Drinking Tap Water, Scientists Warn
Calo News:
Medscape:
New Study Links In Utero Fluoride Exposure to Neurobehavioral Issues in 3-Year-Olds
Technology Networks:
Increased Fluoride Exposure During Pregnancy Associated With Neurobehavioral Issues in Infants
Cosmos:
Caution advised on US fluoride-in-water study
Sydney Morning Herald:
A new study links fluoride with cognitive issues. Should we be worried?
Medscape:
Fluoride, Water, and Kids’ Brains: It’s Complicated
New York Post (reprinted by MSN, AOL, & Yahoo):
Fluoride in Pregnancy May Harm Child’s Brain Development: Study
NBC:
Could Fluoride in Pregnancy Affect Kids’ Development? A Study Suggests a Link
Additional Expert Quotes
I also want to highlight some good quotes from experts that were unique to some of these news articles and weren’t in the press releases from Keck School of Medicine or the University of Florida.
“Our results showed that higher fluoride levels in mother’s urine were associated with significantly increased neurodevelopmental problems in their three-year-old children, especially for internalizing problems like depression and anxiety. These results are very concerning from a public health perspective, given that the majority of U.S. communities have fluoridated water. In experimental studies, fluoride has shown to cause biochemical changes in brain cells and increased inflammatory reactions even at low doses. Effects have also been seen on learning and memory in studies in rats. This is all critically important for pregnant persons, because studies have shown that fluoride can cross the placenta and the blood-brain barrier, which can harm the developing brain of the fetus. The best option would be for pregnant individuals to drink filtered water…” — Tracy Bastain, PhD, MPH, an associate professor of clinical population and public health science at the Keck School of Medicine and senior author of the study (Newsweek)
“This exposure can impact the developing fetus. Eliminating that from drinking water is probably a good practice…We don’t know what the safe threshold is. It’s not like you can say that as long as you’re under the 75th percentile, there are no effects.” – Tracy Bastain, PhD, MPH (LA Times)
“Our results do give me pause. Pregnant individuals should probably be drinking filtered water.” —Tracy Bastain, PhD, MPH (NBC)
“The JAMA study is a huge SOS signal on fluoride for the US. The question in our court case was whether adding fluoridation chemicals to drinking water presents an unreasonable risk of neurodevelopmental harm. This study provides the most direct evidence to date that it does. The JAMA study provides further corroboration that early life exposure to fluoride can adversely affect brain development, and suggests millions of people in the U.S. are unknowingly suffering the consequences.” — Michael Connett, JD, FAN’s attorney for our federal lawsuit against the EPA (Children’s Health Defense)
“The new study is extremely important because it shows increased likelihood of neurobehavioral problems with increased maternal fluoride exposure, for a cohort of children in the United States with relatively low maternal fluoride exposures. It adds to the large and growing body of data on fluoride’s neurotoxicity and supports arguments to limit exposure of the U.S. population to the chemical. Given the potentially controversial nature of the new paper, it is likely that it also received extra scrutiny. The fact that JAMA published the 2019 article and the recent article indicates that the editors and reviewers consider each of the articles to be of very high quality and importance. Actually, given the quality and size of the current body of evidence on fluoride neurotoxicity, as well as other adverse health effects, the question is not whether Malin et al.’s paper [today’s study] should be considered controversial, but why anybody still thinks community water fluoridation is a good idea!” — Kathleen Thiessen, Ph.D., a risk analysis scientist who co-authored the 2006 National Research Council’s study on fluoride toxicity (Children’s Health Defense)
Sincerely,
Stuart Cooper
Executive Director
Fluoride Action Network