New research could betoken to a hidden risk of fluoride in early development . The subject found a link between higher fluoride pic in meaning woman and a great risk of their children later being diagnose with neurobehavioral problem by age 3 . The findings do not corroborate a cause - and - effect link , but they do warrant further investigation , the study authors say .
The enquiry was led by scientists at the University of Southern California ’s Keck School of Medicine . They analyze datum from an existing project hunt by USC investigator at the Center for Environmental Health Disparities : the Maternal and Developmental Risks from Environmental and societal stressors ( MADRES ) cogitation . As part of theMADRESstudy , researchers tracked the wellness of local mother and their babies , starting in former pregnancy through the first geezerhood of puerility .
The study analyzed data point from 229 pairs of mothers and children . The mothers ’ level of fluoride photograph was estimated based on piddle test they took during the third trimester , while the children ’s level of social and emotional functioning was quantify via the Preschool Child Behavior Checklist , a test taken by the parents .
Water fluoridation is considered one of the most important public health accomplishments in recent decades.Photo: Fernando Gutierrez-Juarez/dpa (Getty Images)
The team found a detectable correlation between high fluoride level in moms and a greater prevalence of certain clinically important behavioral problems in their kid at age 3 . Specifically , for each additional 0.68 milligrams per liter of fluoride exposure in the womb , the children were 1.83 times more potential to show possible behavioral issues . The findings arepublishedMonday in the journal JAMA web Open .
“ fair sex with high fluoride photo levels in their bodies during pregnancy tended to place their 3 - year - old children higher on overall neurobehavioral problems and internalizing symptoms , include emotional reactivity , anxiety and somatic complaint , ” said fourth-year study author Tracy Bastain , an associate professor of clinical universe and public health sciences at USC , in astatementfrom the university .
The results are based on a relatively small sample size , and population studies such as this one can not turn up a causal connexion . But some other enquiry has observe evidence that other fluoride exposure can harm neurodevelopment , at least in animal . And while this looks like the first U.S. study of its kind , there have been similar studies in Mexico , Canada , and other countries suggest the same connection , according to the team . Recent review haveconcludedthat more rigorous studies are needed to nail down this question .
Fluoride is authoritative to our dental wellness , helping fortify tooth enamel , which is why it ’s been routinely added to wassail weewee for decades . In children and adult , water fluoridisation isthoughtto prevent up to 25 % of cavities . But the study writer observe that there does n’t seem to be any such wellness welfare for germinate fetus in the womb . And should research proceed to suggest a possible hurt from former fluoride exposure , they ’re hopeful that it could conduct to newfangled public health recommendations that people limit fluoride while significant .
“ While this is the first U.S.-based subject field of fluoride exposure during pregnancy , more studies are urgently involve to understand and palliate the impacts in the total U.S. universe , ” Bastain said . The team is next contrive to read exactly how fluoride exposure might be affecting the development of children in the MADRES universe .
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