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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 24 May 2000

Vol. 519 No. 6

Written Answers. - Flouride Levels.

Eamon Gilmore

Ceist:

163 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Health and Children when the report commissioned on behalf of his Department and the eight regional health board to advise on an up to date status report on all aspects of fluoride will be available; if, pending this, he can offer any advice to the public regarding concerns about the safety of fluoride; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14642/00]

The Eastern Regional Health Authority, on behalf of the Department of Health and Children and the health boards, has awarded a contract jointly to Trinity College, Dublin and University College, Cork to advise health boards on all aspects of fluoride use, including water fluoridation. When advice and recommendations are available from these studies appropriate consultation will take place to inform future policy on fluoride use for this country. A situation analysis will be available by the end of this year. A report from one contractor is due by end 2001 and a report from the second contractor is due by end 2002.

The safety and effectiveness of water fluoridation as a public health measure have been evaluated frequently by the World Health Organisation and other reputable authorities, such as the Health Research Council of the United States, and concerns about adverse health effects have not been substantiated. In October 1999, the faculty of public health medicine of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland issued a report which endorsed the safety and effectiveness of water fluoridation. All of the reputable scientific evidence confirms the safety of fluoride when it is available in public piped water supplies at the optimal levels. These levels are the same as those required under the Health (Fluoridation of Water Supplies) Act, 1960.
References:
1."Fluorides and Oral Health" Report of a WHO Expert Committee on Oral Health Status and Fluoride Use (1994). WHO Technical Report Series no. 846. WHO, Geneva.
2."Water Fluoridation and Public Health" (1999). Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Faculty of Public Health Medicine.
3."Review of fluoride benefits and risks" (1991). US Public Health Service. Report of the ad hoc subcommittee on fluoride. Washington DC: US Government Printing Office.
4."Fluoridation of water and cancer: a review of the epidemiological evidence" (1985). Knox EG, Chairman. Report of the DHSS Working Party. London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
5."Fluoride, Teeth and Health" (1976). Report of the Royal College of Physicians, London. Pitman Medical.
6."Health Effects of Ingested Fluoride" (1993). National Health Council, Subcommittee on Health Effects of Ingested Fluoride. Washington, DC, National Academy Press.
7.Harris J. "The Ethics of Fluoridation" (1983). Centre for Social Ethics and Policy, University of Manchester.
8.Challacombe SJ. "Does Fluoridation harm immune function?" (1996). Community Dental Health; 13 Suppl 2: 69-71.
9.Freni SC., Gaylor DW (1992). "International trends in the incidence of bone cancer are not related to drinking fluoridated water." Cancer; 70: 611-8.
10.Murray JJ., Rugg-Gunn AJ., Jenkins GN. Eds (1991). "Fluoride in caries prevention". 3rd Edition. Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd.
11."The Effectiveness of Water Fluoridation " (1991). National Health and Research Council. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, Australia.
12.Hillier S., Cooper C., Kellingray S. et al. (2000). "Fluoride in drinking water and risk of hip fracture in the UK: a case control study." Lancet; 355: 265-69.)
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