Australia - DHSV questions water fluoridation study results

Dental Health Services Victoria has stated recent findings from a Canadian study on maternal fluoride exposure during pregnancy and IQ scores in young children between 2008 to 2011, should be interpreted with extreme caution

A finding of the study, published in JAMA Paediatrics, has sparked discussion among members of the community that an increase in maternal urinary fluoride of one milligram per litre was associated with a 4.5-point IQ decrease in Canadian boys of three to four years of age.

Dental Health Services Victoria has noted on their website that Australian and international experts have questioned the validity of the methods used by the researchers and the strength of results reported.

“The study was observational, meaning that it looked at an association between maternal urinary fluoride levels and IQ scores in young children but did not test a causative link between the two,” DHSV writes.

“The study also found there was a statistically insignificant increase in IQ scores in girls of the same age where maternal urinary fluoride concentrations were one milligram per litre or more—a finding which casts doubt on causative inferences.”

You can read the full report by DHSV here.

DHSV concludes by saying it “continues to support water fluoridation as a fair way of delivering the benefits of fluoride to the community, regardless of individual age, education, income or motivation”.

Surprise, surprise.