Does fluoride in toothpaste handicap your child's brain development?

However, fluoride has a darker side. Some studies have shown it may hinder brain development in children and contribute to low IQs in children that are most exposed to it.

For years health experts have been unable to agree on whether fluoride may be toxic to the developing human brain. Extremely high levels of fluoride are known to cause neurotoxicity in adults, and negative impacts on memory and learning have been reported in rodent studies, but little is known about the substance’s impact on children's neurodevelopment.

In a 2012 meta-analysis, researchers from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and China Medical University in Shenyang combined 27 studies and found strong indications that fluoride may adversely affect cognitive development in children.

Based on the findings, the authors say that this risk should not be ignored, and that more research on fluoride’s impact on the developing brain is warranted.

The researchers conducted a systematic review of studies, almost all of which are from China where risks from fluoride are well-established.

Even though many of the studies on children in China differed in many ways, the authors consider the data compilation and joint analysis an important first step in evaluating the potential risk.

Child brushing teeth Pulse

The China National Knowledge Infrastructure database also was included to locate studies published in Chinese journals. They then analyzed possible associations with IQ measures in more than 8,000 children of school-going age; all but one study suggested that high fluoride content in water may negatively affect cognitive development.

Some studies suggested that even slightly increased fluoride exposure could be toxic to the brain. Thus, children exposed to high fluoride had significantly lower IQ scores than those who didn't. The children studied were up to 14 years of age, but the investigators speculate that any toxic effect on brain development may have happened earlier, and that the brain may not be fully capable of compensating for the toxicity.

“Fluoride seems to fit in with lead, mercury, and other poisons that cause chemical brain drain,” one researcher said. “The effect of each toxicant may seem small, but the combined damage on a population scale can be serious, especially because the brain power of the next generation is crucial to all of us.”

There is reason to be wary of your child using toothpaste that contains fluoride in it, especially younger children that swallow the toothpaste form as they brush their teeth.