REVIEW OF FLUORIDE BENEFITS and RISKS REPORT OF THE AD HOC SUBCOMMIITEE ON FLUORIDE OF THE COMMIITEE TO COORDINATE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND RELATED PROGRAMS

This report is a comprehensive review and evaluation of the public health benefits and risks of fluoride in drinking water and other sources. It was prompted by a study of the National Toxicology Program which found "equivocal evidence " of carcinogenicity based on the occurrence of a small number of malignant bone tumors (osteosarcomas) in male rats. Extensive studies over the past 50 years have established that individuals whose drinking water is fluoridated have fewer dental caries. Although the comparative degree of measurable benefit has been reduced recently as other fluoride sources have become available, the benefits of water fluoridation are still clearly evident. Both animal studies and human epidemiology studies are used to identify potential hazards. Taken together, the only two methodologically acceptable animal studies available at this time fail to establish an association between fluoride and cancer. In humans, optimal fluoridation of drinking water does not pose a detectable cancer risk as evidenced by extensive human epidemiological data reported to date, including new epidemiological studies prepared for this report. No trends in cancer risk, including the risk of osteosarcoma, were attributed to the introduction and duration of wate