People are exposed to fluoride through a variety of sources, including drinking water and dental care products. A recent Monograph by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) systematically examined existing literature to evaluate the evidence on links between fluoride exposure and neurodevelopmental and cognitive effects in humans. The review included human, animal, and mechanistic studies.
Studies on children were divided into those focusing on IQ and those focusing on other cognitive or neurodevelopmental outcomes. They were further categorized based on the quality of the studies. Among 19 studies that examined the relationship between fluoride exposure and children’s IQ and were considered to be high quality, 18 “reported an inverse association between estimated fluoride exposure and IQ.” The majority of lower-quality studies also found an inverse association. The NTP Monograph concluded there is moderate confidence in the scientific evidence that showed an association between higher levels of fluoride and lower IQ in children.
In this webinar, Dr. Kyla Taylor will discuss the NTP systematic review, NTP monograph on the state of the science concerning fluoride exposure and neurodevelopment and cognition: a systematic review.
This webinar will be moderated by Dr. Jerry Heindel, Director of Healthy Environment and Endocrine Disruptor Strategies, a program of Environmental Health Sciences.
Featured Speakers
Kyla W. Taylor, Ph.D. is an epidemiologist and health scientist in the Health Assessment and Translation group within the Integrative Health Assessment Branch at the Division of Translational Toxicology (DTT) at NIEHS. Taylor is a member of DTT’s Consumer Products and Therapeutics Program Management Team. Her research includes conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses, developing and promoting harmonization of systematic review methods, and analyzing patterns of personal care product use and their associations with socio-demographic characteristics, early puberty, breast cancer, and other health outcomes. Taylor received her B.A. from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, her M.S. in Population Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and her Ph.D. in Epidemiology at UNC-
This webinar will be hosted by the EDC Strategies Partnership, which is co-chaired by Sharyle Patton (Commonweal Biomonitoring Resource Center), Jerry Heindel and Sarah Howard (Environmental Health Sciences' Healthy Environment and Endocrine Disruptor Strategies, HEEDS), Génon Jensen (Health and Environment Alliance, HEAL), and Rachel Massey (Collaborative for Health and Environment, CHE). To see a full list of past calls and webinars related to EDCs and listen to or view recordings, please visit our partnership page.