USA - Cost and safety of fluoride questioned

Cost and safety of fluoride questioned
Friday, January 27, 2012
Kathryn Lucariello
......Office manager Jim Allison said employees are also concerned about safety, both for themselves having to handle the fluoride and for the public. Water operators are required to operate under NSF/ANSI Standard 60, which addresses the health effects of water treatment chemicals and additives.

NSF 60 requires full disclosure of each chemical added to water and a toxicology review.

In the case of industrial fluoride, it's not the fluoride itself, but what else might be in it, Allison said.
"The district has written forty-nine letters and had no answers from manufacturers or the Health Department. All fluoride products have contaminants. We need to know what we're putting in the water because consumers will ask.

"We're at a quandary out here. Do we follow NSF 60? It's not pharmaceutical grade, so there are contaminants."

"I don't know if we have the ability to enforce the manufacturers to reveal what's in it," said James Yates, board president. "We also want to worry about whether we have the proper safety handling procedures for our employees, to have a very safe environment for them." ..............