A new report that analyzes research on fluoride and IQ scores finds that the more fluoride a child is exposed to, the lower he or she tends to score on intelligence tests. The findings' relevance to the U.

Higher fluoride exposure was linked to lower IQ among children, a large meta-analysis indicated, although with limited data quality. Inverse associations and a dose-response association were found between fluoride measurements in urine and drinking water and children's IQ across literature from multiple countries,

A new government study reviewing past research on the safety of fluoride for children found a slight decrease in IQ scores overall as levels of fluoride exposure increase. But the authors acknowledged that many of the papers included in the new analysis had a “high risk of bias,