Although several Tennessee cities have voted to discontinue the adding of fluoride to their municipal water systems, the Duck River Utility Commission (DRUC) has no plans to stop using the chemical known to benefit oral health.
Randal Braker, manager of DRUC, which supplies water to Tullahoma, Manchester and surrounding areas, said he has yet to see any credible evidence that fluoride is harmful in the low concentrations recommended for municipal water systems…
“The fluoride initially comes to us in a highly concentrated liquid form called hydrofluorosilicic acid, or HSF,” Braker said, “and we have to be very careful handling it because it can burn the skin, but we deliver it into the water system using a very slow drip process through a tubing system that gradually delivers it into millions of gallons of water.
“Once it’s delivered into the water, the acid is neutralized, and it breaks down into tiny levels of fluoride ions, which are good for your teeth, and even lower levels of silica, which is a naturally occurring mineral.”
… Furthermore, he said supplies are purchased from The Mosaic Company, headquartered in Plymouth, Minn., and that they must be accompanied by a signed, notarized affidavit showing that the product is approved by both the National Sanitation Foundation and the American Water Works Association, both of which are independent, non-profit agencies…