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5) NRC Panelists Release Risk-Assessment on Fluoride

In its 2006 review, the National Research Council (NRC) concluded that the current allowable limits of fluoride in water in the US (4 ppm) are too high and should be lowered. The NRC didn’t specify what the new level should be, but recommended that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conduct a new risk assessment which takes into account the new data identified in the report.

Since EPA has yet to conduct this risk assessment, 3 of the panelists from the NRC review –- along with a scientist representing EPA’s Headquarters Union — presented the results of their own risk assessment (5). According to the scientists:

“The purpose of this study was to conduct a risk analysis comparison between fluoride and other non-essential elements (e.g. Antimony, Arsenic, Beryllium, Cadmium, Mercury, and Thallium). Using recently published literature on fluoride toxicology, we calculated new reference doses (RfD) for fluoride based on several endpoint outcomes and used these to recommend a range of new MCLGs (Maximum Contaminant Level Goals) to help guide the EPA in adjusting the MCLG for fluoride in drinking water.”

This risk-assessment, which was presented at a Society of Toxicology conference in March, contradicts claims made by fluoridation proponents that the NRC report is not relevant to the policy of water fluoridation. According to the NRC scientists, if the same protocols used to evaluate other non-essential elements are used in the fluoride risk-assessment, than the safe water level for fluoride should be no higher than 0.4 ppm, which is lower than the levels (0.7-1.2 ppm) added to water for fluoridation.

According to the scientists:

“Our results indicated that in all calculations the new MCLG for fluoride in drinking water should be at most one tenth (0.4 mg/L) of the current MCLG of 4 mg/L, suggesting that the practice of fluoridation should be re-evaluated.”

NEXT: Low-Level Fluoride Linked to Sperm Damage in Animals

REFERENCE:

5) Limeback H, Thiessen K, Isaacson R, Hirzy W. (2007). The EPA MCLG for fluoride in drinking water: new recommendations. Society of Toxicology 46th Annual Meeting, Charlotte, North Carolina, March 25-29.

See also: Top 10 Scientific Developments of 2006