This now raises serious concerns as well as scientific and ethical considerations regarding the continued mandatory fluoridation of drinking water supplies in the Republic of Ireland.
SIR – This week one the world’s most prestigious paediatrics journals, ‘The American Medical Association’s Journal on Pediatrics’ (JAMA Pediatrics) published the findings of a study conducted in Canada, which shows that fluoride consumed by pregnant women can markedly decrease the IQ of their children.
While this was the first prospective, observational study undertaken in North America examining the effect of water fluoridation on neuro-developmental outcomes in children using individual level bio-monitoring data, it confirms the earlier observational findings by findings by Bashash et al. in 2017 and Thomas et al. in 2018 that low levels of fluoride during foetal development will cause cognitive impairment.
In addition, another current cross-sectional population study undertaken in the United States and funded by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) published last month in the journal ‘Environmental International,’ which examined for the first-time liver and kidney function in US adolescents aged 12 to 19 years living in fluoridated and non-fluoridated communities in the USA also found that even low to moderate fluoride exposure may contribute to complex changes in kidney and liver function which may result in increased retention of fluoride, due to kidney damage, in addition to altered liver enzymatic activity that may affect metabolic processes, as well as possible interference of gastrointestinal processes by fluoride.
As an independent scientist and fluoride researcher based in Ireland, I am indeed honoured that research I conducted without funding for public benefit is referenced in the recent seminal JAMA publication, which indicates that my work is being read by experts in the field of toxicology and epidemiology internationally.
I would add that several additional studies which I recently authored have also been published this year in peer reviewed scientific literature which highlight the role of fluoride in contributing to iodine deficiency and other disorders, in addition to the role of fluoride toxicity in contributing to eye diseases, including cataracts, age related macular degeneration and glioma.
Taken together, there is accumulating and worrisome evidence indicating potential long-term harm associated with ingesting fluoride, even at low to moderate concentrations, which now raises serious concerns as well as scientific and ethical considerations regarding the continued mandatory fluoridation of drinking water supplies in the Republic of Ireland.
Yours sincerely,
Declan Waugh,
Environmental Scientist,
11 Riverview,
Doherty’s Road,
Bandon.
