THE’European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has recently Updated levels of safe and tolerable fluoride For all age groups, following an in -depth revision of over 20,000 scientific publications.
This update concerns the presence of fluoride in different sources of daily exposure: drinking water, foods, fluorrated salt and oral hygiene products such as toothpastes. The aim is to guarantee the protection of public health, in particular of the most vulnerable groups such as young children and pregnant women.
What changes: the new levels of safe intake
The EFSA has set new levels of intake to prevent harmful effects due to excessive exposure to the floruro. The recommended levels are as follows:
These limits have been set considering the prevention of dental fluorosis in the little onesan effect caused by an excessive exposure to fluoride during teeth formation, and the protection of the development of the central nervous system in fetuses and small children.
Dental fluorosis and risk for children
Among the adverse effects most found there is dental fluorosis, a condition that manifests itself with discolors or spots on the teeth and mainly affects the molars, which develop in the first years of life. According to EFSA, Children between 4 and 8 years old are the most at risk category, especially if they ingest high quantities of fluorrated toothpaste.
However, the risk can be easily mitigated with one correct oral hygiene education: It is essential that children spit toothpaste and do not ingest it during washing the teeth. The superficial use of toothpaste is instead safe and does not involve significant risks.
Fluoruro is a very effective active ingredient for the prevention of dental caries and is present in about 90% of the toothpastes sold in Europe. Efsa underlines that the problem is not the use of fluoral toothpastes itself, but the possible ingestion. The intake of fluoride through toothpaste was considered in the calculation of the total exposure, together with that coming from drinking water and food.
The authority recalls that the concentration of fluoride in European drinking water is generally very low (below 0.3 mg/l), well below the EU legal limit of 1.5 mg/l. For this reason, the main risk factor is linked precisely to the accidental ingestion of toothpaste, easily avoidable with the supervision of adults during cleaning the teeth.
The reasons for the EFSA update
The review of the fluoride risk was requested by the European Commission following more recent scientific studies that indicated a possible link between fluoride exposure and negative effects on the development of the central nervous system in children. Efsa experts have examined these data with scientific rigor, integrating them with studies on thyroid, bones and teeth, to provide a complete picture of the risk.
Thorhallur Halldorsson, vice president of the EFSA scientific committee, He explained that, despite the facts, they are still insufficient to define a precise threshold for neurocompactual effects, the new levels of intake have been set precisely to prevent such potential risks.
On the basis of this updated evaluation, the European Commission could review the legal limits in force for fluoride in drinking water, in order to ensure an adequate safety margin for the whole population.
EFSA also highlighted the need for further research to fill scientific gaps, especially to better clarify the relationship between fluoride and neurological development in children.
