Prenatal fluoride exposure, offspring visual acuity and autonomic nervous system function in 6-month-old infants.

Krzeczkowski JE, Hall M, Saint-Amour D, Oulhote Y, McGuckin T, Goodman CV, Green R, Muckle G, Lanphear B, Till C. Environ Int. 2024 Jan;183:108336. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108336

Question: Is there an association between mothers’ exposure to fluoride during pregnancy and visual acuity and heart rate variability in their 6-month-old infants?

What did the researchers do:
Researchers estimated prenatal fluoride exposure using: i) fluoride concentration in drinking water; ii) maternal urinary fluoride concentrations averaged across pregnancy; and iii) maternal fluoride intake from consumption of water, tea, and coffee, adjusted for maternal body weight. They examined associations between each measure of fluoride exposure and tests measuring the sharpness of the infant’s vision (i.e. visual acuity) and their heart rate variability (a measure of autonomic nervous system development) for approximately 400 infants from the MIREC-ID study.

What did they find:
Fluoride concentration in the drinking water of the community as well as estimates of maternal consumption of fluoride were association with poorer infant visual acuity and lower heart rate variability. No associations were observed between levels of fluoride in the mothers’ urines during pregnancy and visual acuity or heart rate variability.

What does this mean:
The results of this study suggest that estimates of prenatal fluoride exposure may be associated with a less mature nervous system in infants around 6 months of age. However, this is the first study to report associations between fluoride and markers of nervous system development in infancy and additional research is needed.

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