§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on(a) funding and (b) progress with medical research into fluoridation and (i) cancer rates and (ii) hip fractures. [74249]
§ Ms BlearsThe report, published on 4 September, of an expert working group set up by the Medical Research Council (MRC) at the request of the Department concluded that there was no firm evidence linking water fluoridation to cancer or to hip fractures. But the group recommended that a comparison be made between the amount of fluoride that the body absorbs from water supplies in which it occurs naturally and those to which it has been added artificially.
We are, therefore, taking immediate steps to commission a project on the absorption of fluoride. The Department is finalising the specification for a research project to compare the body's absorption of naturally occurring and artificially added fluoride, and will shortly be inviting tenders. The MRC group concluded that if new studies show that the uptake of fluoride from artificially fluoridated water is substantially higher than from naturally fluoridated water, then further investigation of the long term effects of fluoridation on hip fractures will be needed.
The group also recommended that an updated analysis be made of the data on fluoridation and cancer rates, and suggested that any new studies on the causes of bone cancer could easily include an assessment of exposure to fluoride. The Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Dental Officer will be advising on the action we should take on this and the remaining recommendations in the MRC group's report.