Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41220017›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental health : a global access science source2025

Prenatal fluoride exposure and autistic behaviors in preschool-aged children: the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals (MIREC) cohort study.

Adele Carty, Rivka Green, Carly V Goodman, John R McLaughlin, Howard Hu, Bruce Lanphear, E Angeles Martinez-Mier, Amanda J MacFarlane, Gina Muckle, Jeffrey R Brook and 1 more

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Article in Environmental health : a global access science source, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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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

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Adele CartyDivision of Epidemiology, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Rivka GreenDepartment of Psychology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Carly V GoodmanDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, 4700 Keele St, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada.
John R McLaughlinDivision of Epidemiology, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Howard HuDepartment of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Bruce LanphearChild and Family Research Institute, BC hildren's Hospital Research Institute and Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
E Angeles Martinez-MierDepartment of Dental Public Health and Dental Informatics, School of Dentistry, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
Amanda J MacFarlaneAgriculture Food and Nutrition Evidence Center, Texas A&M University, Fort Worth, TX, USA.
Gina MuckleCentrersitaire (CHU) de Québec Research Centre and School of Psychology, Laval University, Quebec, QC, Canada.
Jeffrey R BrookDivision of Occupational and Environmental Health, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Christine TillDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, 4700 Keele St, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada. ctill@yorku.ca.

Funding

Fluoride in Tooth Dentin and Neurodevelopmental Outcome in a Canadian CohortR01ES030365 · NIEHS · YORK UNIVERSITY · PI LANPHEAR, BRUCE P, TILL, CHRISTINE · 2019 to 2024
$2.1M
Impact of early life fluoride exposure on cognitive and behavioural outcomes in childrenR21ES027044 · NIEHS · YORK UNIVERSITY · PI TILL, CHRISTINE · 2016 to 2017
$362k
CIHR MOP-81285NIEHS NIH HHS R01 ES030365NIEHS NIH HHS R21 ES027044NIEHS NIH HHS R21ES027044 and R01ES030365
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe prevalence of autism spectrum disorder has risen in recent decades. Given the growing evidence that prenatal fluoride exposure may be neurotoxic, we examined associations between prenatal fluoride exposure and parent-reported autistic behaviors in preschool-aged children.

methodsWe studied 453 mother-child pairs using data from the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals (MIREC) study, a prospective Canadian birth cohort. Autistic behaviors were assessed in children at 3 to 4 years using the Social Responsiveness Scale-Second Edition (SRS-2) Preschool Form, where a higher score indicates more autistic behaviors. We estimated prenatal fluoride exposure using three methods: (i) maternal urinary fluoride adjusted for specific gravity (MUF

resultsThe mean SRS-2 total T-score for children aged 3 to 4 years was 45.3 (SD = 6.1, range = 34 to 85). The median MUF

conclusionsThere was no evidence of an association between prenatal fluoride exposure and autistic behaviors in preschool-aged children, in contrast to previous MIREC research findings on lead and phthalates. Given that this cohort has relatively few children with high SRS-2 scores, further research is needed in other groups of children to more fully explore this association.

Indexed as

Autism Spectrum DisorderAutistic DisorderFluoridesMaternal ExposurePrenatal Exposure Delayed EffectsAdultCanadaChild, PreschoolCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMalePregnancyProspective StudiesFluoridesAutism spectrum disorderAutistic behaviorsEnvironmental exposureFluorideNeurodevelopmentSocial responsiveness scale

Identifiers

PMID41220017
PMCPMC12607120

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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.