Hydrofluorosilicic acid
10.1.2007
WRITTEN QUESTION E-0089/07
by Kathy Sinnott (IND/DEM)
to the Commission
Hydrofluorosilicic acid, which is used in Irish drinking water, is a highly unstable and very toxic pollutant that is unsuitable for ingestion by either humans, animals or aquatic life forms. Hydrofluorosilicic acid is not a permitted foodstuff, food supplement or food additive. Neither is it an authorised medicinal product. Hydrofluorosilicic acid is widespread in food and beverages in Ireland, since they are made from fluoridated town water. None of these products is labelled showing it contains fluorosilicic acid.
Fluoride is a cumulative poison, and the health implications of chronic exposure to fluorosilicic acid in the population have not been investigated either by the Commission or by the Irish Government, despite the alarming increase in fluoride poisoning in Ireland. Some 3 million people in Ireland are exposed daily to this untested and illegal pollutant and yet have no means of establishing how much of it they are exposed to because food and drink labels are not obliged to state how much fluoride is present or what form it is delivered in, as required. What are usually studied in research on fluoride are stabler and less toxic forms of the substance, like sodium fluoride, which can be found in toothpaste. However, this toxic form of fluoride is not studied in fluoride research.
EFSA (The European Food Safety Authority) has confirmed to me, on 24 November 2006, that it has not looked at the issue of hydrofluorosilicic acid to date because EFSA is not responsible for assessing the effects of treatments of drinking water, as water in the water supply system does not come under its remit.
I am alarmed that hydrofluorosilicic acid, which my constituents are drinking, is not included in any EFSA study or that even a basic safety study is not being conducted. The information on fluoride from the EFSA panels does not address any of the troubling matters which arise from hydrofluorosilicic acid.
EFSA must take responsibility for scrutinising any safety issues arising from the ingestion of water additives as a food ingredient within the EU, one of which — the ingestion of hydrofluorosilicic acid in drinking water in Ireland — is cause for widespread concern.
Does the Commission agree that a study on hydrofluorosilicic acid in drinking water should be carried out? Does the Commission agree that hydrofluorosilicic acid should be banned from Irish drinking water?
OJ C 293, 05/12/2007