WRITTEN QUESTION E-2505/99 by Caroline Jackson (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Water fluoridation.
Date: 1999-12-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU environmental policy, competence of the Member States, drinking water, water treatment

C 280 E/56

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

3.10.2000

Furthermore, the Commission has presented a communication (1) to the Council proposing certain specific
measures, such as economy measures and the creation of an additional facility authorising easier access to
inward processing. This will enable the Community processing industry to remain competitive in external
markets.

(1) COM(99) 673 final.

(2000/C 280 E/056)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2505/99

by Caroline Jackson (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(22 December 1999)

Subject: Water fluoridation

Can the Commission state whether it is prepared to review the existing legislation on drinking water so as
to include a prohibition on water fluoridation, in line with fears raised by some of my constituents?

Can the Commission list the principal scientific studies which may underlie its decision not to address the
fluoridation issue at EU level or to propose a prohibition on this process?

Answer given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behalf of the Commission

(17 January 2000)

Drinking water quality is regulated in the Community by Council Directive 80/778/EEC of 15 July 1980
relating to the quality of water intended for human consumption (1), which will be replaced by
25 December 2003 by the recently adopted new drinking water Directive 98/83/EC (2). Both directives
limit the maximum admissible concentration of
its origin,
i.e. naturally present or artificially added. The matter of fluoridation of water supplies lies within the
Member States(cid:146) responsibility. The Member States, however, must respect the maximum limit set out in the
directive. Member States policies on this matter depend on a number of factors, including local customs
and habits which differ from one Member State to the other. Unquestionably, fluoridation is a contro-
versial issue because of the positive or negative effects fluoride might have, depending on the concentra-
tion of the substance in the drinking water.

fluoride in drinking water, regardless of

The limit set out in the drinking water Directive is 1,5 milligrammes per litre (mg/l), which according to
the view of the World health organisation (WHO) as expressed in its drinking water quality guidelines
represents a good balance between the positive and negative effects of fluoride. Positive effects start around
0,5mg/l up to 2 mg/l. The more the concentration shifts upwards from 2mg/l the more the risk of
negative effects is increased i.e. dental fluorosis or even skeletal fluorosis at very high concentrations.

Therefore, the answer to the first question is that the Commission is not considering a revision of the
legislation, as the new drinking water Directive was adopted on November 1998 and it has to be
implemented.

As for the second question, the principal reference is the WHO publication: (cid:145)Guidelines for drinking water
quality, second edition volume 2, Geneva 1996(cid:146). In this volume, information on fluoride can be found in
pages 231-237 including a list of 18 relative references.

(1) OJ L 229, 30.8.1980.
(2) OJ L 330, 5.12.1998.