Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39861439›Full record

ArticleNutrients2025

Urinary Fluoride Levels Among Youth in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2015-2016: Potential Differences According to Race.

Durdana Khan, Stephen Franks, Zhilin Wang, Angela Miles, Howard Hu, Ashley J Malin

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nutrients, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Durdana KhanCollege of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.ORCID 0009-0005-1352-801X
Stephen FranksCollege of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3516-932X
Zhilin WangCollege of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
Angela MilesCollege of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
Howard HuDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA.
Ashley J MalinCollege of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.

Funding

Early life fluoride exposure, neurodevelopment and childhood sleep patternsR00ES031676 · NIEHS · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · PI MALIN, ASHLEY · 2022 to 2024
$746k
National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIH/NIEHS) R00ES031676NIEHS NIH HHS R00 ES031676
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND/

objectivesUrinary fluoride (UF) is the most well-established biomarker for fluoride exposure, and understanding its distribution can inform risk assessment for potential adverse systemic health effects. To our knowledge, this study is the first to report distributions of UF among youth according to sociodemographic factors in a nationally representative United States (US) sample.

methodsThe study included 1191 children aged 6-11 years and 1217 adolescents aged 12-19 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2015-2016. We examined UF according to sociodemographic variables as well as Spearman correlations between UF and plasma fluoride. Survey-weighted quantile regression examined associations between tap water fluoride and UF levels adjusted for covariates.

resultsThe average age of participants was 12.5 years. The median (IQR) UF and water fluoride concentrations were 0.52 (0.50) mg/L and 0.39 (0.54) mg/L, respectively. Children had higher UF levels than adolescents and males had higher UF levels than females. UF differed according to race/ethnicity among both children and adolescents. Specifically, non-Hispanic Black youth tended to have higher UF levels than all participants except for those classified as other race/multiracial. UF and plasma fluoride were moderately correlated for children and adolescents. Higher water fluoride levels were associated with higher UF levels, and the magnitudes of association were larger at higher quantiles of UF (β = 0.14,

conclusionsNon-Hispanic Black youth in the US may have greater fluoride exposure and receive more of their fluoride intake from tap water than youth of other races/ethnicities. Factors contributing to potential racial/ethnic disparities in fluoride exposure within the US warrant further investigation so that they can be mitigated to reduce the potential for harm.

Indexed as

FluoridesRacial GroupsAdolescentBiomarkersChildDrinking WaterEthnicityFemaleHumansMaleNutrition SurveysUnited StatesYoung AdultBiomarkersDrinking WaterFluoridesadolescentschildrenfluorideNHANESrace/ethnicitytap waterUnited Statesurine fluoride

Identifiers

PMID39861439
PMCPMC11768995

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.