Previous studies have shown that fluoride in drinking water can damage children’s intelligence. Now, a new Danish study confirms that the earlier findings appear to be correct.
Researcher Philippe Grandjean, professor of environmental medicine at the University of Southern Denmark, and colleagues have previously shown that fluoride added to drinking water can affect children’s intelligence. In a new study, the team looked at data from 1500 children and their mothers and compared data from the US, where fluoride is often added to water, with Danish data.
In Odense, the level of fluoride in the drinking water is low and comes from groundwater and is below the limit, but the study shows that even these small amounts can damage the intelligence of children as young as seven.
– Our recent studies that have demonstrated effects on intelligence show that the level probably needs to be below 0.3 mg/l in order not to damage the fetal brain, said Philippe Grandjean in a press release.
Prohibited in Denmark
While Denmark does not allow fluoride to be added to drinking water, the United States does, citing the protection of its citizens’ teeth. Grandjean argues that it then passes from the mother to the fetus through the placenta and can negatively affect the fetus.
– This is how fluoride gets into the rest of the body and through the placenta to the fetus, and research has long shown that teeth are best protected when fluoride is applied directly to the teeth, such as in toothpaste, he says.
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Researchers are developing different types of robotic insects. The idea is that they will revolutionize agriculture when other pollinators are threatened with extinction, but also to be able to engage in surveillance.
Today, a large proportion of the world’s pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, are heading towards extinction, with the UN estimating that nearly 35% are threatened with extinction globally. However, robotic insects are not intended to replace real insects, but rather to develop agriculture.
Pollination is critical to the entire food industry, as 75% of the world’s food grown depends on pollination. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) believe that with artificial pollination, using robotic insects, farmers could in the future grow fruit and vegetables in multi-storey warehouses. This, in turn, is said to increase yields while reducing some of the harmful environmental effects of farming.
For some time, researchers have been working on developing various robotic insects. Earlier versions of the robotic insect consisted of four identical units, each with two wings, combined into a rectangular unit about the size of a microcassette.
Now, much smaller and more durable robotic insects have been developed. The new robots can hover for about 1 000 seconds, which is more than 100 times longer than previously demonstrated. At the same time, they weigh about the same as a paper clip and can fly much faster.
– Compared to the old robot, we can now generate control torque three times larger than before, which is why we can do very sophisticated and very accurate path-finding flights, said researcher Kevin Chen in a press release.
The goal is to achieve a flight lasting longer than 10,000 seconds. They also want to improve its precision so that it can land and take off from a flower, which it currently cannot do.
Photo: Harvard SEAS
Inspired by the crane fly
Researchers at Harvard University have also been working on developing robotic insects. RoboBee can fly, dive and hover like a real insect. The robot weighs only one-tenth of a gram and has a wingspan of three centimeters. The idea is that RoboBee could be used for artificial pollination, but also for surveillance and rescue operations.
However, researchers have long struggled to land it effectively, but now they have found a solution. Taking inspiration from nature, a seemingly graceful landing has been upgraded for RoboBee.
The crane fly spends much of its short life landing and taking off, and it has a strong ability to cushion the landing using its long legs that almost act as shock absorbers. Since the robot’s size and shape were already similar to the crane’s, the researchers chose to develop the robot’s legs like the crane’s.
However, RoboBee is still unable to fly without external energy and is wired. The idea now is to continue developing the robot.
– The longer-term goal is full autonomy, but in the interim we have been working through challenges for electrical and mechanical components using tethered devices, said researcher Robert Wood, from Harvard, in a press release.
A new group of environmental pollutants has been discovered in the blood of Swedes. Some of the substances may have a negative impact on fertility and may also be endocrine disruptors.
So-called synthetic phenolic antioxidants (SPAs) have been found in 30 blood donors in Stockholm, confirmed a study from Stockholm University.
SPAs are found in food packaging, chewing gum, clothing and skin care products, where they are often used to increase the durability of materials. Some of these substances are on the EU’s so-called candidate list, i.e. a list of substances of very high concern. This is because some of the substances can be endocrine disruptors and also negatively affect fertility.
Previous studies from China and the US have shown that the substances are present in both humans and the environment, and some in high concentrations. However, this is the first time it has been detected in the blood of Swedes. The levels are comparable or even higher than the levels of the more well-known PFAS substances, according to researchers.
– This study is a first indication that we have a high exposure to SPAs also in Sweden. Studies on more individuals in different parts of Sweden need to be done to understand the extent of the problem, says researcher Josefin Engelhardt in a press release.
“Don’t know what the consequences will be”
One reason why SPA levels may have been missed in the past is because of the great care required when analyzing blood. Since SPAs are used in plastics and laboratory materials, it is important to be sure that it is the blood levels that are being measured and not substances added during sample collection. However, new methods have now been developed to analyze SPAs in blood.
The researchers say that we now need to find out where SPAs come from and also investigate their health effects, to best prevent them from spreading and affecting people and the environment.
– We don’t know what the consequences of long-term exposure to these substances will be, but the fact that they are present in high levels in the blood is sufficient to act and reduce the levels in accordance with the Swedish Parliament’s environmental quality objective ‘A non-toxic environment’, says Engelhardt.
Young adults in Sweden often feel ashamed of their mobile phone addiction and experience themselves to a high degree that they have an addictive behavior, according to research from the University of Gothenburg.
The study looked at how people between the ages of 20 and 35 view their own mobile phone use. It emerges that many consider themselves to be addicted and find it difficult to let go of their cell phones.
André Jansson, one of the researchers behind the study, believes that a form of culture has been created where it has become associated with social status to have the ability to reduce screen time and have control over their mobile phone use, something that many people feel they are unable to live up to in reality. Many also feel that they are wasting their time scrolling and ashamed that they cannot control it.
– When you can’t live up to that ideal, it creates a moral dissonance, you don’t use your smartphone in the way you would like to, Jansson told the state channel SVT.
Paracetamol can affect how we perceive risk, according to a US study. Students given painkillers before experiments were found to take greater risks than those given a placebo – something the researchers say may also have societal implications.
Paracetamol is an over-the-counter medication commonly taken for pain and fever and is available in the form of several different brands such as Alvedon, Orifarm and Apofri.
In the study, which was published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience in 2020, participants were asked to perform various experiments and then assessed based on their risk-taking. Over 500 university students took part in the experiments, with half of the group receiving a single dose of 1000 milligrams of acetaminophen before the experiments, and the rest receiving a placebo.
In one of the experiments, participants had to inflate balloons via a computer game, with each individual pump providing pretend money. The point was not to blow up the balloon with too much air as all the money earned would be lost. The results showed that the students taking paracetamol engaged in significantly more risk-taking during the exercise, compared to the more cautious placebo group.
Overall, those taking paracetamol inflated, and burst, their balloons more than the control group.
“Less negative emotions”
Researcher Baldwin Way from Ohio State University, who is behind the study, believes that this may have to do with the fact that paracetamol has a certain anxiolytic effect.
– If you’re risk-averse, you may pump a few times and then decide to cash out because you don’t want the balloon to burst and lose your money, Way says, adding:
– But for those who are on acetaminophen, as the balloon gets bigger, we believe they have less anxiety and less negative emotion about how big the balloon is getting and the possibility of it bursting.
The balloon experiment was repeated twice, with similar results. Furthermore, during the experiments, participants were asked to complete questionnaires in which they had to assess risk levels around hypothetical scenarios. For example, betting a day’s income on a sporting event, bungee jumping off a high bridge or driving a car without a seatbelt.
“Significant effects on society”
Those who had taken paracetamol were clearly more comfortable with, for example, the idea of driving without a seatbelt compared to the placebo group.
Way says the study suggests that the substance “seems to make people feel less negative emotion when they consider risky activities”, which he says could have implications for society.
– With nearly 25 per cent of the population in the US taking acetaminophen each week, reduced risk perceptions and increased risk-taking could have important effects on society, he says.
