Moms2B Avoid Fluoride

During pregnancy Moms know to protect their babies by avoiding smoking, alcohol, medications, raw meat, and seafood (particularly high-mercury fish).

We need to add to this list:  fluoride in water, food, and drinks.

Why add fluoride to the list?

While there are 74 IQ studies reporting an association of fluoride exposure with lowered IQ, there are now 9 of these studies, known as the Mother-Offspring fluoride studies, that report a correlation between the level of fluoride in a pregnant women’s urine and lower IQ in their offspring.

In September 2020, the National Toxicology Program issued a revised systematic review of fluoride’s toxicity. They reviewed all the human studies reporting a reduction of IQ in children due to exposure to fluoride (and mainly in their drinking water).

Their review concluded that fluoride
“is presumed to be a cognitive
neurodevelopmental hazard”

After the NTP produced it’s second draft, retaining the same conclusions, it immediately withdrew its report on February 9, 2021, and ended its 4-year effort at a systematic review of fluoride’s neurotoxicity. One can only assume it was because this issue was too politically toxic (see a discussion of this here and here).

The following four studies were funded by the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Science.

(1) The largest study by Green et al. (2019) with 512 mother-child pairs, was performed in Canada. Women living in areas with fluoridated tap water compared with nonfluoridated water had significantly higher mean urinary fluoride concentrations. A 1-mg/L increase in urinary fluoride levels was associated with a 4.49-point lower IQ score in boys, but there was no statistically significant association with IQ scores in girls.

(2) In another Canadian study of 398 mother-child pairs by Till et al. (2020) titled Fluoride exposure from infant formula and child IQ in a Canadian birth cohort, the authors concluded:

(3) In 2017, a 12-year-long study by Bashash et al. was published. It reported significant reductions in children’s IQ when their mothers were exposed to fluoride during pregnancy. In this study of Mexican mother-offspring pairs conducted by American and Canadian researchers, mothers were receiving the same fluoride doses as mothers in the U.S. who live in communities that add fluoride to their water.

(4) While not an IQ study, a 2018 study by Till et al., published a national survey of urinary fluoride levels in pregnant women across Canada. Canada and the U.S. have the same “optimum” fluoride regulation of adding .7 ppm fluoride to drinking water in fluoridation schemes. The authors noted:

“We measured fluoride levels in urine samples collected during each trimester from 1,566 pregnant women living in fluoridated and nonfluoridated communities in a Canadian pregnancy cohort. We found that mean urinary fluoride values were almost two times higher for pregnant women living in fluoridated regions than for those in nonfluoridated regions (Table 2). The differences in MUF [maternal urinary fluoride] concentration remained significant after adjustment for relevant covariates. Urinary fluoride levels were significantly lower among women living in nonfluoridated regions, despite the so-called diffusion or halo effect”

What should pregnant women know about these studies?

Fluoride exposure was determined by measuring fluoride in the urine of the pregnant women because that is a reliable measure of total fluoride exposure. The researchers found a correlation between the urine fluoride of the pregnant mothers and a loss of IQ points in their offspring in the following 5 studies:

• 1. Green et al. (2019) reported lower IQ at between 3 and 4 years of age.
• 2. Bashash et al. (2017) reported lower IQ at 4 years of age and between 6 to 12 years of age.
• 3. Thomas et al. (2018) reported lower IQ in children between 1 to 3 years of age.
• 4. Valdez Jiménez et al. (2017) reported lower IQ between the ages of 3 to 15 months.
• 5. Li et al. (2004) reported significant differences in the behavioral neurological assessment score in 1 to 3 day-old offspring

Is this new information?

Yes. While there are  74 published studies reporting an association of fluoride exposure with a lowering of IQ in children, and over 200 animal-fluoride studies reporting damage to the brain and reduced learning and memory ability, the surprise came with the release of these mother-offspring fluoride studies. Why? Because they have clearly demonstrated, for the first time, that pregnancy is the most critical period for exposure to fluoride. The fetus now ranks as the most vulnerable of our species to fluoride’s toxicity.

Pregnant women should know about these studies in order to take the necessary steps to protect their child’s brain.

Who funded these studies?

The two mother-offspring studies were funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

For more info on these studies use the links
in the Select-a-Topic at the top

How is a pregnant woman exposed to fluoride?

Fluoride is added to approximately 70% of public drinking water systems across the U.S. as non-consensual dental treatment. Exposure to fluoride mainly occurs by ingestion or inhalation. The greatest exposure to fluoride for the majority of Americans comes from drinking fluoridated water and using it in food preparation to make soups, rice, coffee, tea, infant formula, etc. Fluoride also has many industrial uses, so living close to a fluoride/fluorine emitting industry is also a concern. For more information on industrial releases, see the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory for fluorides.

What water should I drink if I am pregnant? — Find out here

Questions & Concerns? Check out the Q & A

Who recommends avoiding fluoride?

We are part of Fluoride Action Network (FAN), a non-profit coalition of scientists, health professionals, and community activists dedicated to science-based information about fluoride and promoting public awareness of risks associated with non-consensual fluoride treatment in public water and other fluoride exposures. FAN was formed in 2000 as a project of the American Health Environmental Studies Project, Inc.

Many health professionals and public officials are expected to support traditional beliefs about fluoride and have not personally evaluated the new scientific evidence that swallowing fluoride is not helpful and actually harmful. This website provides links to all of that science. As an individual, you have the right to decide for yourself how you want to take care of your family and your unborn baby.

A pregnant woman doesn’t want to drink a substance that has the potential to harm the brain of her fetus.

The Fluoride Action Network believes that it is urgent for pregnant women to be warned of this potential and avoidable threat to their baby’s intellectual development. Because government authorities are failing to issue such warnings, FAN has begun this campaign to warn expectant mothers to avoid fluoride–especially fluoridated water–during pregnancy.

What can I do?

Help spread the Moms2B Avoid Fluoride message, so that expecting mothers can act to protect their children.

Working as an individual, or with a community group, familiarize yourselves with the Mother-Offspring studies and the Fluoride-Brain studies. Also, read the Precautionary Principle, which is what city and town council members can invoke to end fluoridation in your community.

Learn more on the following pages that are also listed in the Select-a-Topic at the top of this page

• What Water Should I Drink?
• Q & A
• Join the Campaign / Help Spread the Word
• Environmental Justice & Pregnant Women
• The Mother-Offspring Studies
• The Fluoride-Brain Studies
• The Precautionary Principle
• IQ Loss: Economic Cost to Society
• Media Coverage of the Bashash et al. study
• Leaflets & Other Campaign Materials

Join the Moms2B campaign to
help spread the word to pregnant women

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