Health and Human Services Department
Through this final recommendation, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) updates and replaces its 1962 Drinking Water Standards related to community water fluoridation--the controlled addition of a fluoride compound to a community water supply to achieve a concentration optimal for dental caries prevention. For these community water systems that add fluoride, PHS now recommends an optimal fluoride concentration of 0.7 milligrams/liter (mg/L). In this guidance, the optimal concentration of fluoride in drinking water is the concentration that provides the best balance of protection from dental caries while limiting the risk of dental fluorosis. The earlier PHS recommendation for fluoride concentrations was based on outdoor air temperature of geographic areas and ranged from 0.7-1.2 mg/L. This updated guidance is intended to apply to community water systems that currently fluoridate or that will initiate fluoridation, and is based on considerations that include: <bullet> Scientific evidence related to the effectiveness of water fluoridation in caries prevention and control across all age groups, <bullet> Fluoride in drinking water as one of several available fluoride sources, <bullet> Trends in the prevalence and severity of dental fluorosis, and <bullet> Current evidence on fluid intake of children across various outdoor air temperatures.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Health and Human Services AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS. SUMMARY: Through this final recommendation, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) updates and replaces its 1962 Drinking Water Standards related to community water fluoridation—the controlled addition of a fluoride compound to a community water supply to achieve a concentration optimal for dental caries prevention. For these community water systems that add fluoride, PHS now recommends an optimal fluoride concentration of 0.7 milligrams/liter (mg/L). In this guidance, the optimal concentration of fluoride in drinking water is the concentration that provides the best balance of protection from dental caries while limiting the risk of dental fluorosis. The earlier PHS recommendation for fluoride concentrations was based on outdoor air temperature of geographic areas and ranged from 0.7-1.2 mg/L. This updated guidance is intended to apply to community water systems that currently fluoridate or that will initiate fluoridation, and is based on considerations that include: Scientific evidence related to the effectiveness of water fluoridation in caries prevention and control across all age groups, Fluoride in drinking water as one of several available fluoride sources, Trends in the prevalence and severity of dental fluorosis, and Current evidence on fluid intake of children across various outdoor air temperatures. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara F. Gooch, DMD, MPH, Centers for Disease Contr…
Citation: 80 FR 24936
