The Impact of Exposure to Iodine and Fluorine in Drinking Water on Thyroid Health and Intelligence in School-Age Children: A Cross-Sectional Investigation

作者：Siyu Liu, Xiaomeng Yu, Zhilei Xing, Peisen Ding, Yushan Cui, Hongliang Liu · 发表于：Nutrients · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.3390/nu16172913 · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Fluoride Effects and Removal、Thyroid Disorders and Treatments、Mercury impact and mitigation studies

Iodine and fluorine, as halogen elements, are often coexisting in water environments, with nearly 200 million people suffering from fluorosis globally, and, in 11 countries and territories, adolescents have iodine intakes higher than that required for the prevention of iodine deficiency disorders. It has been suggested that excess iodine and/or fluorine can affect thyroid health and intellectual development, especially in children, but their combined effect has been less studied in this population. This study investigated 399 school-age children in Tianjin, China, collected drinking water samples from areas where the school-age children lived, and grouped the respondents according to iodine and fluorine levels. Thyroid health was measured using thyroid hormone levels, thyroid volume, and the presence of thyroid nodules; intelligence quotient (IQ) was assessed using the Raven's Progressive Matrices (CRT) test; and monoamine neurotransmitter levels were used to explore the potential relationship between thyroid health and intelligence. Multiple linear regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS) analyses showed that iodine and fluorine were positively correlated with thyroid volume and the incidence of thyroid nodules in school-age children, and negatively correlated with IQ; similar results were obtained in the secondary subgroups based on urinary iodine and urinary fluoride levels. Interaction analyses revealed a synergistic effect of iodine and fluorine. A pathway analysis s...