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# Fluoride can cause infertility, anemia - breaking news
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/fluoride_infertility_0522130924/
- Published: 2013-05-22T22:14:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T15:55:38.000Z
- Description: Chinese researchers report in Food and Chemical Toxicology that female rats given sodium fluoride in drinking water for six months had lower pregnancy rates, lower reproductive hormone levels, damaged endometrium and fewer ovarian follicles. The work was done in rats, not people.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Chemical, Food Safety, #vivvo-import

By Jimmy Downs

Wednesday May 22, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- Fluoride added to 75% of drinking water in the U.S. has been known for long to cause a range of diseases and health conditions including IQ decline, thyroid disease, bone cancer in boys and [skeletal fluorosis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeletal%5Ffluorosis?ref=foodconsumer.org) and [dental fluorosis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental%5Ffluorosis?ref=foodconsumer.org). A new [study ](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027869151300135X?ref=foodconsumer.org)has now found this neuron toxicant can also make females infertile.

Dr. Yongjiang Zhou from Chongqing Medical University in Chongqing, PR China and colleagues reported in Food and Chemical Toxicology that female rats after exposed to fluoride for merely six months suffered female reproductive dysfunctions and reduced the fertility of the female rats. Rodents are similar to humans in many ways and the study results may predict what damage fluoride can cause to humans.

In the study, rats were exposed for six months to three doses of sodium fluoride, a type of fluoride, in drinking water and then researchers examined how the toxic chemical affects the morphology of the ovaries and uteri of the female rats.

The successful pregnancy rate was found lower in the fluoride treated rats and high doses tended to result in a lower rate. The concentrations of female reproductive hormones were lower and the endometrium was damaged, compared to that of rats untreated with fluoride.

Additionally, fluoride inhibited the development of ovarian follicles, which contain eggs and treated rats developed fewer follicles of all types, the study found.

The researchers concluded "These results suggest that female reproductive function is inhibited by NaF and that exposure to NaF (sodium fluoride) causes ovarian and uterine structural damage. NaF may thus significantly reduce the fertility of female rats."

Fluoride plays no role in normal human physiology. No benefit has been ever found with fluoridation of drinking water. Even the claimed protective effect against caries is still in doubt while many harmful effects have already been revealed.

For more information on fluoridation and its health risks, read [http://www.fluoridealert.org/](http://www.fluoridealert.org/?ref=foodconsumer.org)

**Fluoride may cause anemia**

If you ingest too much fluoride, you may develop anemia, suggests a new study published in Biological Trace Element Research.

N.I. Agalakova and G.P. Gusev of Russian Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg, Russia found excessive ingestion of fluoride leads to accelerated death of erythrocytes or red blood cells and anemia in rats.

For the study, rats were exposed to fluoride in different doses, 0.4 ppm, 2 ppm, 10 ppm, and 20 ppm in drinking water for 12 months and researchers then examined how fluoride affects red blood cells.

Chronic exposure to fluoride increased the plasma fluoride concentration progressively, which was accompanied by a dose dependent drop of hematocrit and reduction in the mean volume of red blood cells.

In rats exposed to high doses of fluoride at 10 and 20 ppm fluoride, stomatocytes and echinocytes appeared morphologically abnormal. Cell viability was suppressed in rats that were exposed to all three doses including 2 ppm.

The researchers concluded "long-term intoxication of the rats with F (fluoride) triggers premature death of their erythrocytes (red blood cells) due to intrinsic death-associated biochemical defects and development of anemia."

In some U.S. cities, higher than 1.5 ppm of fluoride can be found in drinking water and fluoridation makes it possible for some people to get exposed to excessive fluoride.

Another new study suggests that females with excessive exposure to fluoride can suffer infertility.

Fluoride has been known to lower IQ in children. cause rare bone cancer in boys, thyroid disease and skeletal fluorosis and dental fluorosis among others.

An estimated 75 % of U.S. drinking water has been fluoridated.