INVESTIGATIONOFINTELLIGENCEQUOTIENTIN9–12-YEAR-OLD.pdfVIP

9 Research report IQ of 9–12-year-old children in high- and low-drinking water F areas 9 Fluoride 47(1)9–14 in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran January-March 2014 Karimzade, Aghaei, Mahvi INVESTIGATION OF INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT IN 9–12-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN EXPOSED TO HIGH- AND LOW-DRINKING WATER FLUORIDE IN WEST AZERBAIJAN PROVINCE, IRAN S Karimzade,a M Aghaei,b AH Mahvi b,c Tehran, Iran SUMMARY: In order to investigate the relationship between fluoride (F) in drinking water and children’s intelligence quotient (IQ), 39 9–12-year-old children in West Azerbaijan, were selected and their IQ measured using the Iranian version of the RB Cattell test. The study cases were 19 children living in a high-drinking water F region (3.94 mg F/L), and the control group was 20 children in a low-drinking water F region (0.25 mg F/L). The results showed that, the mean IQ of children living in the high- drinking water F region was lower (81.21±16.17) than that of children in the low- drinking water F region (104.25±20.73, p=0.0004). There is a significant linear trend for children in the high-drinking water F region to have a lower IQ (p=0.0067). Keywords: Fluoride in drinking water; Intelligence Quotient; Iran; RB Cattell test; West Azerbaijan, Iran. INTRODUCTION For most individuals, the source of greatest exposure to fluoride (F), a recognized developmental neurotoxin,1 is drinking water with other exposure sources including food, dental products, and pesticides.2 The World Health Organization has set a guideline value for the upper limit of F in drinking water of 1.5 mg/L.3 F is not an essential trace element and is not required for the development of healthy teeth and bones. In humans, effects on thyroid function were associated with F exposures of 0.05–0.13 mg/kg bw/day when iodine intake was a