Page 2247 - Week 07 - Thursday, 6 June 1991

MINISTER FOR HEALTH, EDUCATION AND THE ARTS

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY QUESTION

QUESTION TAKEN ON NOTICE ON 13 MARCH 1991

Fluoride

MR STEVENSON -asked the Minister for Health, Education and the

Arts.

I refer the Minister to a letter from the Australian Dental

Association regarding fluoride which was sent to his office dated

15 February 1991. I was sent a copy of that letter. Paragraph 2

of the letter states the following:

The total fluoride ingested by individuals can be readily

determined by urine analysis techniques. The methodology

is well established and reliable and is not invasive, costly

or otherwise troublesome to implement.

My questions are as follows, they number four.

Firstly, how would this be done?, Secondly, what scientific

evidence is there to suggest that urinalysis is effective in the

determination of total fluoride ingestion? Thirdly, where in the

world is this used on a community basis? And fourthly, where in

Australia would these tests be made?

MR HUMPHRIES -the answers to Mr Stevensons questions on a

possible study of fluoride levels are:

A study could be undertaken on a statistically selected

population sample to obtain 24 hour urine samples for urinalysis

to estimate the daily total fluoride intake.

Evidence from the World Health Organisation publication Fluoride

and Human Healthl. States Persons who have for a long time

been resident in communities where the water contains

fluoride, ...ultimately excrete each day an amount of fluoride

essentially equivalent to the amount taken in2 , it goes on to

observe that in fluoride analysis, 24 hour samples are more

reliable and should be collected if the data for a single

individual are to form the basis for decisions and

interpretations. ,3

1 World Health Organisation: Fluoride and Health,

Geneva, 1970, P. 147.

2 World Health Organisation: Fluoride and Health,

Geneva, 1970, P.147

3 World Health Organisation: Fluoride and Health,

Geneva, 1970, P. 150

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