This “study” has been widely criticized by credible, scientific experts around the world. The authors of this study, Peckham et al, handpicked areas of the UK for inclusion in their study. Inexplicably, Peckham chose to avoid geographical areas adjacent to the fluoridated communities that were not fluoridated, but instead chose other non-fluoridated areas far from these regions. There is no explanation for this in his publication.
Additionally, other studies which do not agree with his findings are not included in his publication. This is not how reliable and credible scientific research is conducted.
Here are 2 of the many critiques of this study:
- The quality of the evidence is moderate with important methodological limitations, and should be interpreted with
There is a high risk of conflict of interest as the principal investigator is a long-time anti‐fluoridation activist in the UK.
The authors’ assessment of the evidence‐base is unbalanced and misinterpreted, contains inaccuracies and lacks citation of key studies.
The results of this study do not support the consistent findings of three scientific reviews, which report insufficient evidence of an association between exposure to fluoride in drinking water and adverse thyroid effects. - A major weakness of this study is the fact that other potential confounding factors have not been taken into account; this makes the conclusions regarding the community health utility of water fluoridation The strong conclusion of the paper by Peckham et al is not supported by the published literature. What is without question is that fluoride has had a remarkable and positive effect on our dental health, and the evidence base for this is overwhelming. The WHO recommends up to 1.5 mg/L for optimum dental health on the basis of decades of epidemiological study, which has consistently shown water fluoridation to be safe and cost-effective. The conclusions of the study by Peckham et al are simply not convincing, and should perhaps be taken with a large pinch of (fluoridated) salt.
References available upon request