Who in the scientific world would say that fluorosilicic acid is safe to drink when added to Rutland City’s excellent water supply? Does having the “NSF” mark on this chemical’s shipping label assure us that this toxic waste product is safe for human consumption when diluted according to fluoridation standards?

At a Select Board meeting in Hinesburg recently, when speaking about a fluoride additive from China with the NSF mark, a Vermont Department of Health dental expert essentially said the NSF mark on the packaging of the fluoride was proof the chemical was safe for drinking water. (See vermontcam.org/show/december-7-2015-hs for the recording of the meeting.)

In order to put the NSF mark on the product, the manufacturer must first apply and pay for the NSF certification. The NSF mark is the property of NSF International, founded in 1944 as the National Sanitation Foundation, which changed its name in 1990 to NSF, which the company now says does not represent any words. NSF/ANSI Standard 60 is a proprietary standard. NSF assumes no responsibility or liability for the use of its standards.

What the standards really mean in regard to the chemical’s toxic effect on one’s health when added to drinking water is not shared publicly, so relying on the NSF mark to promote a safe product is meaningless if the health data and risk assessments are not open to public and scientific scrutiny. The same standard “NSF/ANSI Standard 60” used for drinking water additives also provides validation for chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) process that extracts oil and gas from the earth for energy use.

Based on my careful study over the last few years, this NSF mark does not assure that this toxic chemical is safe for human consumption, even when diluted in drinking water. The American public, and that includes our dentists, has been led to believe by the fluoride industry that fluorosilicic acid or sodium fluoride stamped with NSF labeling is safe to drink, no matter how much we drink or how little or big we are. Recent science has shown fluoride to be a neurotoxin, an endocrine disrupter, and in the same EPA classification of human carcinogens as arsenic and cyanide. Fluoride’s effect is cumulative with 50 percent of this toxic chemical taken in and stored in our bones and tissues.

NSF standards have nothing to do with promoting dental health. It is bad medicine to continue to add these industrial waste products to our drinking water when the risks of toxicity and scientific evidence show the potential for harm to our children over their lifetimes. The Precautionary Principle of Public Health teaches us to err on the side of safety. The Hippocratic Oath teaches us “Above all, do no harm.”

The widespread fluoride overexposure as evidenced by the dental fluorosis in over 40 percent of our young people shows this outdated practice is no longer supported by science. Fluoridation is a money-making political policy being supported and financed by a fluoride industry that will never pull the plug on fluoridation as long as they have the American Dental Association in their back pockets.

Our own Vermont Department of Health dental experts continue to interpret and promote the NSF labeling as assurance that fluorosilicic acid from the fertilizer industry and sodium fluoride imported from China are safe to drink when added to our water.

Kathleen Krevetski is a registered nurse who lives in Rutland.