The powers that be have long claimed that the fluoridation of drinking water — which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deemed one of the greatest health achievements of the last century — is safe and effective, even though exposure at elevated levels has been linked to various adverse health effects in humans, such as osteoclerosis, calcification of tendons, endocrine dysfunction, and bone deformities.

Those who dared suggest that the governmental effort to prevent tooth decay might have side effects such as mental retardation and cancer were in many cases vilified. It appears that, once again, those written off as quacks and conspiracy theorists were onto something.

The National Toxicology Program, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, released a report Wednesday revealing that fluoridated water can lower IQ in kids.

The National Institutes of Health's Office of Dietary Supplements indicated that fluoridated municipal drinking water accounts for approximately 60% of fluoride intakes in the U.S., and that as of 2020, 62.9% of the population had access to a fluoridated water system.

"Higher estimated fluoride exposures (e.g., as in approximations of exposure such as drinking water fluoride concentrations that exceed the World Health Organization Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality of 1.5 mg/L of fluoride) are consistently associated with lower IQ in children," said the NTP report.

When assessing scientific evidence association of a specific health outcome with an exposure, the NTP uses four confidence levels: high, moderate, or very low.

After evaluating numerous epidemiological studies from countries including Canada, China, India, and Mexico, where some pregnant women, babies, and children were exposed to fluoride at levels exceeding 1.5 milligrams per liter of drinking water, the NTP "concluded there is moderate confidence in the scientific evidence that showed an association between higher levels of fluoride and lower IQ in children."

Although scores of studies caught the investigators' attention, they appear to have focused primarily on 19 high-quality studies that had low risks of bias. Eighteen of these studies that evaluated IQ in children provided "consistent evidence of an inverse association between estimated fluoride exposure and IQ scores."

Whereas World Health Organization guidelines recommend 1.5 mg/L as a safe limit for fluoride, the HHS alternatively recommends 0.7 milligrams per liter of fluoride, noting, "This is the level that prevents tooth decay and promotes good oral health." However, some American municipalities across the country may have slightly more or less in their respective water supplies.

New York City, for instance, adds a fluoride compound that provides the water supply with a concentration of roughly 0.8 mg/L.

Prior to 2015, the recommended upper range in the U.S. was 1.2. The recommended concentration was changed in 2015 to minimize the risk of dental fluorosis.

According to the NTP report, as of 2020, roughly 3.5 million Americans were served by water systems containing over 1.1 mg/L of naturally occurring fluoride; around 1.9 million Americans were supplied by systems with over 1.5 mg/L; and 1 million were being supplied with over 2 mg/L of naturally occurring fluoride.

'The inverse association between estimated fluoride exposure and IQ in children was consistent across different study populations.'

Citing the findings of a recent study, the report further indicated that "regions of the United States where [community water systems] and private wells contain natural fluoride concentrations of more than 1.5 mg/L serve over 2.9 million U.S. residents."

Although the NTP report would not confirm whether the currently recommended level of 0.7. mg/L is dumbing down the population, it called for "targeted research that prospectively examines the association between fluoride exposure and children's IQ in optimally fluoridated areas of the United States ... to add clarity to the existing data."

According to the NTP, there is "also some evidence that fluoride exposure is associated with other neurodevelopmental effects in children." However, its confidence in that evidence is presently not as strong.

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