2nd public call for the submission of new information or data on the hazard profile, health effects, and human exposure to fluoride and information and data on the health

Public health

2nd public call for the submission of new information or data on the hazard profile, health effects, and human exposure to fluoride and information and data on the health risks that may be associated with the use of most common drinking water fluoridation agents like silicofluorides (e.g. (hydro)fluorosilicic acid, sodium silicofluoride).
 

2nd public call for the submission of new information or data on the hazard profile, health effects, and human exposure to fluoride and information and data on the health risks that may be associated with the use of most common drinking water fluoridation agents like silicofluorides (e.g. (hydro)fluorosilicic acid, sodium silicofluoride).

The European Commission Health and Consumer Protection Directorate General have requested the Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER) to critically review any information that has become available in the public domain on the hazard profile and epidemiological evidence of adverse and/or beneficial health effects of fluoride and to assess the health risks that may be associated with the use of the most common drinking water fluoridation agents (e.g. silicofluorides).

In line to its procedures for stakeholder dialogue published on 15 September 2007, the European Commission's Health and Consumer Protection Directorate General published the the working mandate to public consultation between 17 March 2009 and 8 April 2009 and issued a call for information.

Mandate
In total 97 comments were received on the 'working mandate'. After careful consideration of the comments received and in consultation with the SCHER working group on the subject, the Health and Consumers Directorate General of the European Commission has modified and finalised the mandate.
The final mandate and an explanatory document on the modified mandate in light of the comments received are published now.

Call for information
In line with the modified final mandate, interested parties are invited to submit:

1) Scientific peer reviewed research papers, reviews and reports on hazard profile, health effects, and human exposure to fluoride and hydrofluorosilicic acid used in drinking water fluoridation.

In particular the submissions should focus on evidence made available after 2004 and on evidence that was made available before 2004 but which was not considered in the previous evaluations by the European Union scientific Bodies (Scientific Committee on Consumer Products, 20.09.05, European Food Safety Authority Scientific Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies, NDA 22.02.05, and Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain, CONTAM 22.06.09)

2) Scientific peer reviewed research papers, reviews and reports on the hazard profile, health effects (positive and negative), and human exposure (direct or indirect via drinking water and the environment) to most common drinking water fluoridating agents e.g. silicofluorides like ((hydro)fluorosilicic acid, sodium silicofluoride, disodium hexafluorosilicate or hexafluorosilicic acid) used in drinking water fluoridation.

3) Other credible scientific information that may not be easily available and which is directly relevant to this issue.

Deadline for submission of information: 26 June 2009

All information is considered public unless otherwise stated by the provider. Guidelines for the submission of contributions, containing criteria for the call for information and guidance for submission can be found here and in the Stakeholder Dialogue Document.

Please put the full body of your contribution as an attachment to the electronic message.

Please include your details, organization and e-mail address in the text of the message and specify "SCHER: Fluoridation - Call for Information" in the subject line of your e-mail.

Contributions should be sent to the following mailbox: Sanco-Sc8-Secretariatec [dot] europa [dot] eu (Sanco-Sc8-Secretariat[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)

More information on the European Commission non food Scientific Committees can be found here.