Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential for fluoride to cause foetal brain damage through the amniotic fluid of pregnant mothers.

There are a number of authoritative reviews which concur that there is no convincing evidence that water fluoridation is harmful to health, including causing foetal brain damage, at the levels seen in water fluoridation schemes in the United Kingdom.

Fluoride is present throughout the natural world including in water supplies and there are areas of the country where levels of fluoride in drinking water are naturally at similar levels to those seen in artificial fluoridation schemes. We are required to monitor the effects of water fluoridation schemes on the health of people living in those areas and to produce reports every four years. The next report is due to be published in March 2022.