Fluoride study ‘of no relevance to Ireland’

A report in the Lancet that found fluoride is a neurotoxin contains no new data and is of no relevance to Ireland, the Dáil has been told.

Independent TD Clare Daly asked Minister of State at the Department of Health Alex White for his view of the report, which was published in March, and whether he would move to cease adding fluoride to our water. Mr White said the Irish Expert Body on Fluorides and Health assessed the study by scientists from the Harvard Medical School cited in the Lancet report, which claimed an effect on children’s IQ at very high levels of naturally occurring fluoride.

“They were found to be of no relevance to Ireland, given our regulated fluoridation levels. The view of the expert body is that the overall design of the studies is poor and they do not provide evidence of any effect on children’s IQ from either high or low fluoride levels.”

He said the Harvard study contained no new data, and that “Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine continue to support water fluoridation as a safe public health measure.”

Mr White said his department keeps the policy of water fluoridation under review.