Fluoridation (Hansard, 27 January 1998)

§ Mr. Paul Murphy

Responsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Water Service under its chief executive, Mr. Plester. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from G. K. Sutton to Rev. Ian Paisley, dated 27 January 1998: The Secretary of State has asked the Chief Executive, Mr Plester, to reply to your recent parliamentary questions asking if any Government buildings in Northern Ireland such as prisons, military camps, schools, etc, have been artificially fluoridated and in what quantities the fluoride used to artificially fluoridate Tandragee contains arsenic, lead, aluminium and radioactive particles. Mr Pester is out of the office on business and has asked me to respond. The fluoride content of the public water supply is increased only in water supplied to Tandragee and Holywood (although fluoride of the water supplied to Holywood has ceased temporarily pending replacement of the fluoridation plant). All schools, libraries, police stations, a military base and other public buildings in Tandragee and Holywood normally receive fluoridated water. The hexafluorosilicic acid used for fluoridation is an approved water treatment chemical, specified in regulations, for use by the United Kingdom water industry. It is listed by the national `Committee on Chemicals and Materials of Construction for use in Public Water Supply'. This treatment compound does not contain 172W radioactive particles. Neither is aluminium a recognised constituent of it. Arsenic and lead are present at very low levels in hexafluorosilic acid which is used in the treatment process at the rate of approximately 1 part per million in accordance with regulatory controls. Because of the very high dilution factor these 2 substances pass into supply at concentrations of less than 1 part in billions, which have no impact on Water Service's compliance with EC and national drinking water compliance.