Fluoride and Neurotoxicity – What Is the Connection?

“It is of high importance that we speak about the possible dangers associated with mercury, the bioaccumulation of toxins or fluoride, especially in light that the initial fluoride findings were flawed, not addressed and used as the bases for everyday use.”

Since the mid-1940s the mineral fluoride has been added to community water supplies throughout Canada and the U.S. to prevent tooth decay. It has been a hotly debated subject concerning health and safety risks for reducing cavities. Most people do not give it a second thought when visiting dentists for regular cleaning and check-up as the fluoride gel is pressed against our teeth during the final procedure. It must be good for us, why else would our government allow it and trusted dentists be giving it, and why else would it be in toothpaste and in drinking water? Then I am reminded that dentists still offer amalgam (mercury) silver fillings, they are the most common type of filling used in Canada and the U.S. whereas in other countries it is banned and treated as toxic waste, what do they know that we do not? The answer for the previous question leads to another perspective. What exactly is the problem with fluoride and why should we avoid it?

It has become clearly evident in an era of fluoridated toothpastes and other products developed to boost dental health that they may not be our biggest concern, that the potential risks from consuming fluoridated water may become much more harmful than beneficial.

In June 2015, the Cochrane Collaboration—a global independent network of researchers and health care professionals known for rigorous scientific reviews of public health policies—published an analysis of 20 key studies on water fluoridation. They found that while water fluoridation is effective at reducing tooth decay among children, “no studies that aimed to determine the effectiveness of water fluoridation for preventing caries [cavities] in adults met the review’s inclusion criteria.”[1] The report mentioned above also concluded that previous scientific investigations in favor of fluoridated water were conducted before 1975 and were deeply flawed.

“According to fluoride poisoning data collected by the American Association of Poison Control (AAPC), tooth paste ingestion remains the main source of toxicity followed by fluoride containing mouth washes and supplements. The highest proportion (more than 80%) of the cases of fluoride toxicity was reported in children below the age of 6.”[2] It seems that fluoride is not so safe for children after all, even though the original argument for introducing it was that it helps to reduce cavities in children which would be good for them. On second thought maybe it is not so good after all.

The same concerns arise regarding adults, especially those with a pre-existing health condition. For example kidney patients are at higher risk of bone damage because damaged kidneys are unable to efficiently excrete fluoride from the body. It means that “kidney patients accumulate up to four times more fluoride in their bones than healthy individuals, and have similar increases in their blood as well.”[3]

Kidneys are the most commonly affected organ due to the uptake of fluoride but it isn’t the only organ affected. Fluoride negatively influences the gastrointestinal tract and also affects the central nervous system and can lead to fetal defects since fluoride crosses the placental barrier (like mercury) and incorporates into the fetal tissues. “Fluoride can cross the blood brain barrier prior to birth viewed as a neurotoxin has been reported to affect mental development, learning disorders, and decrease intelligence and hyperactivity in children.”[4] The intellectual capabilities of children can be influenced by ingestion of dietary fluoride. Tests have shown that children with higher levels of fluoride scored less points on intelligence tests compared with children ingesting lower amounts of fluoride.

Regardless what researchers have stated, power fights continue. Last year, in 2022, The American Dental Association was asking The National Toxicology Program to “carefully review the body of evidence before making any presumptive hazard statements in a forthcoming research report about fluoride and neurocognitive development.”[5] The Association was concerned about the report examining whether there was a causal relationship between fluoride exposure and potential neurodevelopmental and cognitive effects, and asked The National Toxicology Program to exclude or carefully consider how to characterize neurotoxin claims.

This year, in 2023, The National Toxicology Program released a draft report linking prenatal and childhood fluoride exposure to reduced IQ in children, after public health officials including The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tried for almost a year to block the publication.

Obviously, there are other health groups trying to block reports from being published while oversight groups put in place to protect public health are being silenced. Now we are facing “the new crisis of increasing all-cause mortality in US children and adolescents. After COVID-19 pediatric mortality rates increased, and COVID-19 contributed little to this surge. Although most of the upsurge in pediatric mortality was attributable to deaths among older children (ages 10-19), all-cause mortality in younger children (ages 1-9) also increased in 2021 (by 8.4%).”[6]

These health issues do not happen to children from one cause but they are the bioaccumulation of environmental toxins: we know mercury is a neurotoxin and yet it is used by dentists to fill cavities and added to vaccines while most countries ban it from public use. We are told on one hand that fluoride and mercury are toxic and dangerous for human health and then we are told not to worry when it is placed in our drinking water or injected into our arms. You cannot have it both ways: either they are toxic or they are not. What research says though is obvious: “Exposure to mercury can cause immune, sensory, neurological, motor and behavioral dysfunctions similar to traits associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), and these similarities extend to neuroanatomy, neurotransmitters and biochemistry. It also affects antioxidant system in the cell, resulting in loss of membrane integrity and finally cellular necrosis.”[7]

I always like to connect the dots; in the end it paints a clear picture. We have tried to bring to surface these unknown causes for disease conditions in our children, the issues are right in front of us yet nothing is being done to prevent them from happening, instead the core reason why they are happening is being suppressed. “One in 36 (2.8%) 8-year-old children — 4% of boys and 1% of girls — have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), based on an analysis of data from 2020, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (…) Since the CDC started collecting the data, prevalence estimates have skyrocketed from 1 in 150 in 2000, to today’s estimate of 1 in 36 children.”[8]

It is of high importance that we speak about the possible dangers associated with mercury, the bioaccumulation of toxins or fluoride, especially in light that the initial fluoride findings were flawed, not addressed and used as the bases for everyday use. Today’s available research based evidence suggests that fluoride has a potential to cause major human health problems, while the promoted dental caries prevention effects are much less significant. This is why the practice of artificial water fluoridation should be reconsidered globally among the other tightening measures related to the use of fluoride. The possible good does not warrant its use when all things are considered.

Deception for profit and control are everywhere, the only known cure is education for enlightenment for change to happen. Sharing the truth and exposing the lies, strengthened through association of those with like-mindedness and noncompliance by refusal to participate. This unified treatment quickly reduces the viral spread and weakens the sicknesses’ grip on society, becoming the only known pathway for the return to normal.

Products to help protect against toxicity and balance our microbiome:

Additional Reading:

References:

[1] Davis, N. 2016.

[2] Ullah, R., Zafar, M. S., & Shahani, N. 2017.

[3] Connett, M. 2012.

[4] Ullah, R., Zafar, M. S., & Shahani, N. 2017.

[5] Garvin, Jennifer. 2022.

[6] Woolf, Steven H, MD, MPH et al. 2023.

[7] Moneim, Ahmed E Abdel, PhD. 2015.

[8] Baletti, Brenda, PhD. 2023.