Smile

A study published this year in Toxicology in Industrial Health demonstrated that exposure to high levels of fluoride can be harmful to the spatial learning and memory. Early studies have linked fluoride exposure to reduced IQ, increased risk for rare bone cancer in boys, and dental and skeletal fluorosis.

The study showed that rats exposed to drinking water with 100 ppm of fluoride exhibited impairment in the spatial learning and memory deficits and those exposed to the same level of fluoride but also fed vitamin C and Ginkgo biloba in a dose of 100 mg/kg did not experience as much harmful effects of fluoride.

The study also showed that exposure to 0.5 ppm of fluoride in drinking water, which is the limit recommended by the World Health Organization, did not cause the adverse effects. In the U.S., fluoridated drinking water contains 1.0 ppm of fluoride. This study did not test the effect of fluoride at this level. Keep in mind that tooth pastes, mouth washes, tea and sea fish contain high levels of fluoride.

The study concluded that “chronic exposure to high levels of fluoride causes severe impairment in the spatial learning and memory, these deficits can be ameliorated with the vitamin C and G. biloba.” (David Liu)