No Safe Threshold for fluoride

Fluoridated water causes an increased risk of developing a bone disease according to the latest report of the European Union’s Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks.

“The Commission’s report has some serious and alarming statements that should require fluoridation to be stopped immediately” says Mary Byrne spokesperson for Fluoride Action Network New Zealand. The abstract of the report says “Systemic exposure to fluoride in drinking water is associated with an increased risk of dental and bone fluorosis in a dose response manner without a detectable threshold”. “This means there is no safe limit for anyone, and the Ministry of Health is putting the whole population at risk of a bone disease caused by fluoride that will most likely be misdiagnosed as osteo or rheumatoid arthritis” says Ms Byrne.

According to Arthritis New Zealand more than half a million New Zealanders will have arthritis in their lifetime and that's one in every six people over the age of 15 years - or, one in every three people over the age of 45 years.

The report also goes on to say that “the caries preventative effect of systemic fluoride treatment is rather poor” in other words they say, there is very little benefit of drinking fluoridated water for preventing dental decay.

“So why are we continuing with fluoridation?” asks Ms Byrne “it appears to be much more about politicians wanting to believe in the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Health wanting to protect its reputation and credibility, than either of these groups wanting to protect our health”.

The European Commission’s review of fluoride in drinking water has been released for pre-consultation, due for final release in September this year.