Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 April 2013
548. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Health the actions he intends to take in relation to the fluoridation of water in view of the fact that the United States EPA is classifying fluoride as a chemical for which there is substantial evidence of developmental neurotoxicity alongside arsenic, lead, benzine, cocaine, LSD and PCBs. [19974/13]
View answerThe United States' Environmental Protection Agency's definition of "substantial evidence" in this regard is given as "reports from more than one laboratory." This does not indicate whether the evidence is good or poor, simply that more than one laboratory researcher has made this finding. The Agency currently accepts a standard of 4 parts per million for naturally fluoridated water in the USA, which is 5 times higher than the levels for fluoridated water in Ireland. It should be noted that among those substances classed by the Agency in the same group as fluoride are common substances such as ethanol, ozone and chlorine dioxide as well as caffeine, which is found in tea and coffee and acrylamide, which is found in well browned toast and roast potatoes.
The Irish Expert Body on Fluorides and Health has reviewed a number of studies over the years in relation to neurological effects. These studies have typically involved dosing laboratory rats with very high levels of fluoride. The EU Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER) review in 2011 referred to the Whitford study in which rats were given doses equivalent to 200 times the human exposure without demonstrating any neurological effects.
A number of studies from China, and the systematic review of these by Choi (from the Harvard Medical School) which claim an effect on children's IQ at very high levels of naturally occurring fluoride, were assessed by the Expert Body in 2011 and were found to be of no relevance to Ireland, given our regulated fluoridation levels. The view of the Expert Body is that the overall design of the studies is poor and they do not provide evidence of any effect on children's IQ from either high or low fluoride levels. This view was shared by SCHER in its 2011 Review. It should be noted that the Deans of Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine have recently confirmed their support of water fluoridation as a safe public health measure for people of all ages.
The Expert Body is satisfied that water fluoridation, at its optimal level, causes no ill effects. The effects of fluoridation on health and related matters are kept under constant review.
