March 15/New York/Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week -- "It is not clear that the benefits of adding fluoride to drinking water outweigh risks of neurodevelopment or other effects such as dental fluorosis," according to an Institute for Children's Environmental Health report.

Fluoride chemicals are added to 2/3 of U.S. public water supplies ostensibly to reduce tooth decay. Fluoride is found in dental products, supplements and virtually all foods and beverages.

"Excessive fluoride ingestion is known to lower thyroid hormone levels, which is particularly critical for women with subclinical hypothyroidism; decreased maternal thyroid levels adversely affect fetal neurodevelopment," reports a prestigious committee of scientists and health professionals in a Scientific Consensus Statement on Environmental Agents Associated with Neurodevelopmental Disorders (see also NYS Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation).

Studies they reviewed and others link fluoride to brain abnormalities and/or IQ deficits.

"The question is what level of exposure results in harmful effects to children. The primary concern is that multiple routes of exposure, from drinking water, food and dental care products, may result in a high enough cumulative exposure to fluoride to cause developmental effects," they write.

"Given the serious consequences of LDDs [learning and developmental disabilities], a precautionary approach is warranted to protect the most vulnerable of our society," the authors caution.

"It's time to stop water fluoridation," says lawyer Paul Beeber, president, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation. "With many neurological diseases, such as autism and ADD, afflicting too many American children, fluoride's dubious promises of less cavities no longer outweigh fluoride's serious health risks."

The National Research Council reviewed fluoride toxicology evidence and reported in March 2006 that studies linking fluoride to lowered IQ are plausible.

From the March 17, 2008, Prepared Foods e-Flash