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Effect of high fluoride water on intelligence of school children in India.Abstract
The intelligence quotient (IQ) was measured in 190 school-age children, 12–13 years old, residing in two village areas of India with similar educational and socioeconomic conditions but differing in fluoride (F) concentration in the drinking water. The children in the high F area (drinking water F 5.55±0.41 mg/L) had higher urinary F levels (6.13± 0.67 mg/L) than the children in the lower F area (drinking water F 2.01±0.09 mg/L; urinary F levels 2.30±0.28 mg/L). The mean IQ score of the 89 children in the high F area was significantly lower (91.72±1.13), than that of the 101 children in lower F area (104.44±1.23). A significant inverse relationship was also present between IQ and the urinary F level. In agreement with other studies elsewhere, these findings indicate that children drinking high F water are at risk for impaired development of intelligence