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Fluoridated water irreversibly destroys the brain
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Scientists from the Institute of Environmental Health Sciences recently published an article in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives confirming that exposure of the human brain to fluoride leads to irreversible developmental disorders, ultimately leading to a decrease in IQ.
Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and China Medical University in Shenyang jointly reviewed the results of 27 different studies on the effects of fluoride on humans, with a focus on how fluoride affects children. The researchers found “clear evidence” that fluoride exposure significantly impairs brain development, with the greatest impact in childhood.
Children living in areas where water is artificially enriched with fluoride had IQs below the statistical average. After analyzing other factors that can negatively affect children's mental development, the team concluded that there is no doubt that fluoride is associated with lower levels of childhood IQ.
"Our results support the hypothesis that fluoride has a negative impact on the development of the nervous system of children," Harvard scientist Anna Choi and colleagues wrote in their report. "Fluoride easily penetrates the placenta. Fluorides affect the development of the developing brain, which is much more sensitive to the destructive effects of toxins than in adulthood. This can lead to permanent damage."
Another study published in the same journal in 2010 found a similar correlation between fluoride exposure and cognitive development. A comparison of children aged 8 to 13 living in two Chinese villages, one with fluoridated water and one without, found a 350 percent higher IQ in the village with unfluoridated water compared to the village with fluoridated water.
Next, scientists from India studied the ability of fluoride to cross the cerebral barrier, penetrating from the blood into the brain, “disrupting its structures and affecting the functions of the nervous system.” Their results, published in the Journal of Medical and Allied Sciences, in particular explain the actual behavior of fluoride in the human body, what reactions it undergoes, and how it accumulates over time anywhere in the human body, including the brain.
"It seems pointless to expose our children to the threat of fluoridated water to serve the political interests of special interests," says Paul Beeber, an attorney and president of the New York-based Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation (NYSCOF). "Even if fluoridation prevents tooth decay, is dental health more important than brain health? It's time to put politics aside and ban water fluoridation everywhere, once and for all."
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