Fluoridation Trial: Fluoride In Water Is 'Endangering' Children's IQs: 2nd day of strong testimony

NEW YORK, June 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A key witness in a federal lawsuit to ban the use of fluoridation chemicals in public water supplies testified Tuesday that American exposure to fluoride was too high and was endangering the next generation's intelligence, the Fluoride Action Network (FAN) reported.

Dr. Grandjean found "no reasonable doubt that developmental neurotoxicity" was "a serious human health risk associated with elevated fluoride exposure." That exposure, he said, is "occurring at the levels added to drinking water in fluoridated areas." His testimony took the form of statements under approximately 5-hours of questioning and a prefiled Declaration.

Philippe Grandjean, MD, ScD, is an epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health. A Danish scientist, he works in environmental medicine and is the head of the Environmental Medicine Research Unit at the University of Southern Denmark. He has led groundbreaking investigations of neurotoxic chemicals, including mercury and fluoride.

Dr. Grandjean was the second scientist witness to "take the stand" in this bench trial pitting FAN, Moms against Fluoridation, Food and Water Watch, and others against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. He testified via Zoom from Denmark. The trial continues Wednesday, June 10.

A Department of Justice lawyer on the defense team attempted to disqualify Dr. Grandjean's testimony in a lengthy cross-examination, but the motion to do so was promptly denied by presiding District Judge Edward M. Chen.

In his prefiled Declaration, Dr. Grandjean stated,

"Recent research has shown that the most vulnerable life stage for many toxicants, particularly those that adversely affect the brain, is during intrauterine and early postnatal development. Fluoride fits into this paradigm, and efforts to control human fluoride exposures must therefore focus on pregnant women and small children.

"… Epidemiology studies of birth cohorts from the most recent years document that adverse effects on brain development happen at elevated exposure levels that occur widely in North America, in particular in communities with fluoridated drinking water. These new prospective studies are of very high quality and show very similar results, thus leaving little doubt that developmental neurotoxicity is a serious risk associated with elevated fluoride exposure. This evidence shows that community water fluoridation is associated with IQ losses that are substantial and of economic and societal concern."

According to Paul Connett, PhD, director for FAN:

Grandjean's calculation (using the EPA's preferred risk assessment methodology) showed that a pregnant mother drinking just one glass of fluoridated tap water a day would exceed a dose that would lower a child's IQ by one point.

If successful, the lawsuit would force the EPA to ban the addition of fluoridation chemicals to public water supplies on grounds they pose too great a risk.

The court schedule is found here, with directions for tuning in the trial. A press kit providing further information on the case is found here.

SOURCE Fluoride Action Network

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