Report raises flag on fluoride

The EPA's ceiling on fluoride in drinking water is 4 milligrams per liter, or 4 parts per million. That's four times the concentration recommended to fight cavities, which is 0.7 to 1.2 parts per million, the American Dental Association says.

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The report notes that infants and young children are exposed to three to four times as much fluoride as adults because of their low body weight. But adults are vulnerable because of fluoride accumulation in bones.

People exposed to water at or above the EPA's upper limit over a lifetime are at increased risk for bone fractures and a rare, crippling bone-and-joint condition called skeletal fluorosis, the panel finds.

Though a few studies appear to show a connection between fluoride and bone cancer, the National Academies committee called the results "tentative and mixed." A large study at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine is expected to shed some light on the subject this summer.