WRITTEN QUESTION E-2505/99 by Caroline Jackson (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Water fluoridation.
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 Wallström 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 Statesí 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: Guidelines for drinking water quality, second edition volume 2, Geneva 1996í. 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