(NaturalHealth365)  Just when health advocates thought they couldn’t be more concerned about widespread water fluoridation practices, alarming new research delivers a devastating blow to proponents of this dubious public health intervention.  A brand new study published, in BMC Pediatrics, reveals the true extent of damage fluoridated water inflicts on our children’s developing brains.

This comprehensive longitudinal study examined a massive dataset spanning over two decades (1990-2012), tracking more than 73,000 children enrolled in Florida’s Medicaid system for their first ten years of life.  What researchers David A. Geier and Mark R. Geier uncovered should send shockwaves through communities still blindly accepting fluoride in their drinking water.

Fluoride exposure dramatically increases autism and intellectual disability risks

The findings are nothing short of alarming.  Children exposed to fluoridated water showed a staggering 6.26-fold increased risk of autism spectrum disorder compared to unexposed children.  They also experienced a 2.02-fold greater risk of intellectual disability and a 1.24-fold increase in specific developmental delays.

Even more troubling, these associations were dose-dependent – meaning the more fluoride children were exposed to, the greater their risk of developing these life-altering conditions.  This directly contradicts the establishment narrative that has downplayed fluoride’s dangers for decades.

Government agencies continue ignoring mounting evidence

Despite this damning new evidence, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) still maintains water fluoridation is “one of the ten greatest public health achievements of the 20th Century” – a claim that appears increasingly disconnected from scientific reality.

This willful ignorance is nothing new.  The study authors point out that previous research by the CDC examining fluoridation and dental claims in Louisiana Medicaid from 1995-1996 completely failed to conduct any safety assessments.  This pattern of evaluating supposed benefits while deliberately avoiding investigating potential harms has characterized fluoride promotion for decades.

The truth can no longer be suppressed

Dr. Hardy Limeback, former head of preventive dentistry at the University of Toronto, questions the establishment’s priorities:  “How many IQ points were lost in Medicaid kids living in fluoridated communities?  How many more autistic kids can be blamed on fluoride exposure from birth to age 10?”

Karl Jablonowski, a senior research scientist quoted in the study, puts the findings in stark perspective:  “In terms of absolute risk, if this study is correct, out of every thousand children, water fluoridation induces autism in 11, intellectual disability in 5, and specific developmental delay in 49.”

He adds, “That is a trade-off no parent would make, no doctor would recommend, and no society would allow.”

Fluoride damages developing brains even at low exposures

The study confirms what independent researchers have warned about for years – fluoride is a potent neurotoxin that can cause significant harm even at the low levels typically found in municipal water supplies.

Recent studies from Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. consistently show associations between higher fluoride exposure and worse neurocognitive outcomes.  A meta-analysis published in January demonstrated that fluoride exposure is associated with significant reductions in children’s IQ scores.

These effects shouldn’t be surprising.  The researchers explain that “fluoride-associated neurotoxicity is associated with increased oxidative stress, synaptic and neurotransmission dysfunction, disruption of mitochondrial/energy metabolism, and calcium channel dysregulation.”  In other words, fluoride interferes with the fundamental biological processes necessary for proper brain development.

What you can do to protect your family

With approximately 75% of U.S. public drinking water contaminated with fluoride, protecting your family requires immediate action:

1. Install a high-quality water filtration system specifically designed to remove fluoride (many standard filters don’t address this toxin)
2. Avoid fluoridated toothpaste and dental products, especially for children
3. Be aware that children can only excrete about 45% of fluoride through their kidneys – the very organs damaged by fluoride exposure

This latest research adds to the overwhelming evidence that fluoride represents a clear and present danger to children’s neurological development.  As more independent studies confirm these risks, the practice of adding this industrial waste product to our drinking water increasingly appears as one of the most reckless and harmful public health experiments ever conducted.

Sources for this article include:

Fluoridealert.org
Biomedcentral.com
Childrenshealthdefense.org