According to the US CDC, the general public Health Service recommendation for community water flurodation is 0.7 milligrams per liter, as this is the ideal level of fluoride in drinking water to supply sufficient fluoride to avoid tooth decay in children and adults while restricting the risk of dental fluorosis.
Research Methodology
Scientist recruited 74 school-aged kids and rated their capability to draw familiar objects such as a donkey or a home, with ratings showing any missing information. They utilized a standard computerized memory test which is language and culture neutral as another tool to determine cognitive ability.
The study found that higher direct exposure to fluoride in drinking water was connected to more mistakes on the drawing and memory tests. Lead author Tewodros Godebo, assistant professor of environmental health sciences at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, said the “causal relationship in between fluoride exposure and neurotoxicity stays uncertain” however he hopes these initial findings will spur more research into the possible cognitive effects of fluoride exposure.
In rural Ethiopia, farming communities make use of wells with a wide variety of naturally taking place fluoride levels– from 0.4 to 15.5 mg/L. Significantly, the World Health Organization advises keeping fluoride concentrations under 1.5 mg/L in drinking water.
Ramifications and Previous Findings
” Though more epidemiological research studies are required to validate the findings, these results include to the growing issue about the prospective neurotoxic impacts of fluoride, especially during early brain advancement and youth,” Godebo stated. “These tests verified a clear association between high fluoride and cognitive impairment.”
Fluoride is vital for preventing tooth decay. Excess consumption of fluoride has been linked to lower IQs in previous epidemiological research studies in rural communities in China and India.
Additionally, previous animal research study has revealed that fluoride can cross the placenta and blood-brain barriers. In areas without any alternative water sources, this implies excess fluoride exposure could be a persistent concern that starts at conception.
A research study from Tulane University recommends that high fluoride levels in drinking water might hinder kidss cognitive capabilities, highlighting the need for additional research study on its possible neurotoxic effects.
A study of 74 children in rural Ethiopian villages with a large range of naturally occurring fluoride in drinking water found that kids exposed to excess fluoride performed even worse on cognition tests.
Long-term consumption of water with fluoride levels far above established drinking water standards may be connected to cognitive disabilities in children, according to a new pilot study from Tulane University.
The study, released in the journal Neurotoxicology and Teratology, was conducted in rural Ethiopia where farming neighborhoods use wells with differing levels of naturally taking place fluoride varying from 0.4 to 15.5 mg/L. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests fluoride levels listed below 1.5 mg/L. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets 4.0 mg/L as the optimum amount of fluoride that is allowed water from public water systems.
International Impact and Further Research
Over 200 million individuals around the world are approximated to be exposed to high fluoride levels in their drinking water. The Ethiopian Rift Valley, where this study was conducted, is an ideal research area for investigations of potential impacts due to the fact that those raised in the area have constant exposure to stable, naturally taking place fluoride levels and share comparable lifestyles with surrounding villages, limiting the risk of confounding factors.
Godebo wishes to replicate the results in Ethiopia with a bigger mate of children and study the cognition of kids in low-fluoride Ethiopian neighborhoods for prospective indications of cognitive impact.
” We have a special opportunity to study low fluoride communities in the very same setting as high fluoride neighborhoods, so we can figure out if fluoride is a neurotoxicant at low levels,” Godebo stated. “Such research studies are very important to the general public and government firms to determine the security and danger of water fluoridation in drinking supply of water systems.”
Referral: “Association between fluoride exposure in drinking water and cognitive deficits in kids: A pilot study” by Tewodros Rango Godebo, Marc Jeuland, Redda Tekle-Haimanot, Biniyam Alemayehu, Arti Shankar, Amy Wolfe and Nati Phan, 9 September 2023, Neurotoxicology and Teratology.DOI: 10.1016/ j.ntt.2023.107293.
Co-authors for the study included Nati Pham and Arti Shankar of Tulane University, Marc Jeuland of Duke University, Amy Wolfe of University of Kentucky, and Redda Tekle-Haimanot and Biniyam Alemayehu of Addis Ababa University.
Financing: NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.