About 40 per cent of Canadians who use public water supplies get fluoridated water. (iStock)

Fluoride in pregnant women shows water is the primary source

A new study suggests fluoride levels in the urine of pregnant women are twice as high for those living in Canadian cities which add fluoride to the water. This matter is of concern since a Mexican study found an association between prenatal exposure to fluoride and a lower IQ in children.

Fluoride is added to water in some cities to prevent tooth decay. (iStock)

Some women had twice the level of fluoride

Some Canadian cities began adding fluoride to public drinking water in the 1940s as a way to prevent tooth decay. There was and continues to be much controversy around the practice. Today about 40 per cent of Canadians who use public water supplies receive fluoridated water.

Researchers at York University in Ontario studied just over 2,000 pregnant women in 10 large cities across Canada between 2008 and 2011. They found that women in seven of the cities where water was fluoridated had two times the amount of fluoride in their urine as did the women living in the three cities where water was not fluoridated.

The researchers will investigate whether the prenatal exposure to fluoride in Canadian children results in IQ deficits similar to those found in the Mexican study.

Categories: Health
Tags: , , , , ,

Do you want to report an error or a typo? Click here!

For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.