A new study suggests pregnant women exposed to high fluoride levels have an increased risk of having children with behavioral problems.

According to the New York Post, the research suggested children in the womb exposed to higher amounts of fluoride “were more likely to experience temper tantrums, headaches, stomachaches, anxiety and symptoms linked to autism.”

From the New York Post:

“Exposure to fluoride during pregnancy does not mean that a child will experience greater neurobehavioral problems,” senior study author Tracy Bastain, an associate professor of clinical population and public health sciences at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, told The Post.

“We found an association between higher prenatal exposure and more neurobehavioral problems at age 3 but more studies are needed to establish a causal link,” she explained.

Data for the study came from USC’s MADRES Center for Environmental Health Disparities.

MADRES follows predominantly Hispanic families in Los Angeles from pregnancy throughout childhood.

Researchers calculated fluoride exposure from urine samples collected from 229 pregnant moms during their third trimester.

The study authors said children whose mothers had higher levels of fluoride were 83% more likely to show “internalizing” behavioral problems.

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Per Daily Mail:

It isn’t clear what caused some women in the study to have higher fluoride levels than others. Drinking tap water versus filtered, consumption of certain foods and use of some dental products are potential causes of increased fluoride exposure.

Lead investigator Ashley Malin, an assistant professor in epidemiology at the University of Florida College of Public Health, said their findings suggested a relationship between fluoride exposure and foetal brain development.

‘There is no known benefit of fluoride consumption to the developing foetus, but we do know that there is possibly a risk to their developing brain,’ she said.

‘We found that each 0.68 milligram per litre increase in fluoride levels in the pregnant women’s urine was associated with nearly double the odds of children scoring in the clinical or borderline clinical range for neurobehavioral problems at age 3, based on their mother’s reporting.’

She added the findings were concerning and hoped they would inspire policymakers to create specific recommendations for fluoride exposure in pregnancy.

‘Conducting a nationwide US study on this topic would be important, but I think the findings of the current study and recent studies from Canada and Mexico suggest that there is a real concern here,’ she said.

As 100 Percent Fed Up has noted, some local governments have taken action to cease fluoridating their water supply due to the detrimental health risks of fluoride. 

City Council Votes To Cease Water Fluoridation

North Carolina County Votes To Ban Fluoride From Water Supply, Concerned Residents Cite Study Showing Adverse Effects On Children

The research was published Monday in JAMA Network Open. 

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