Suppressed US Government Report Finding Fluoride Can Reduce Children's IQ Made Public Under EPA Lawsuit
NEWS PROVIDED BY
Fluoride Free Alliance UK and Fluoride Alert Network (FAN USA)
Mar 16, 2023, 15.30 GMT
The final report of a 6-year National Toxicology Program (NTP) review of fluoride neurotoxicity was blocked from public release by the Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Administrator in May 2022 according to the Fluoride Action Network (FAN). But under an agreement reached in an ongoing lawsuit against the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), the report was made public today. Included were comments from external peer-reviewers and internal US HHS departments, along with NTP's responses. The review considered all human studies of fluoride's effect on the developing brain. Its conclusion confirmed and strengthened the findings from two earlier drafts released in 2019 and 2020. External peer-reviewers all agreed with the conclusion that prenatal and early life fluoride exposures can reduce IQ.
The report was issued in two parts, a monograph and a meta-analysis. The meta-analysis found that 52 of 55 studies found lower IQ with higher fluoride exposures, demonstrating remarkable consistency. Of the 19 studies rated higher quality, 18 found lowering of IQ. The meta-analysis could not detect any safe exposure, including at levels common from drinking artificially fluoridated water, which, in the UK, is 1 mg fluoride/litre.
Documents obtained through the US Freedom of Information Act show government agencies that promote fluoridation, allied with dental interests, have tried to water down the report. When the NTP held firm, these agencies got HHS Assistant Administrator Rachel Levine to block its release. (Only one historical example exists of an NTP report being blocked from release - a report on the carcinogenicity of asbestos-contaminated talc. Talc industry groups conducted an aggressive lobbying campaign, enlisting friendly congresspeople to intervene.)
FAN was able to force yesterday's release of the NTP report by using leverage from an ongoing lawsuit against the EPA.