Association between fluoride exposure and blood pressure in children and adolescents aged 6 to19 years in the United States: NHANES, 2013–2016

ABSTRACT

To examine the association between fluoride exposure and childhood blood pressure (BP), we used data involving 3260 subjects participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2013 to 2016. Both plasma and water fluoride concentrations were measured using the ion-specific electrode. Outcome variables were systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). For a 1-mg/L increase in water fluoride concentration, the participantsʻ SBP decreased by 0.473 mm Hg (95% CI: −0.860, −0.087). Specifically, inverse associations were found between water fluoride and SBP in girls (β= −0.423, 95% CI: −0.886, −0.021), adolescents (β= −0.623, 95% CI: −0.975, −0.272), and non-Hispanic whites (β= −0.694, 95% CI: −1.237, −0.151). Also, every 1-μmol/L increase in plasma fluoride concentration was associated with a 1.183 mm Hg decrease in SBP among other races (95% CI: −2.258, −0.108). This study suggested that fluoride exposure may affect childhood blood pressure.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescents
• blood pressure
• children
• fluoride
• NHANES

Highlights

• An inverse association was observed between water fluoride and childhood BP.

• Association between water fluoride and BP showed discrepancies in sex, age, arace.

• A negative association was found between plasma fluoride and BP only in other races.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [grant numbers No. 81972981, 82003401].