Who establishes standards for the chemicals used to fluoridate water?
The American Water Works Association (AWWA) prepares standards for the manufacturing, quality, and verification of the fluoride additives. The NSF/ANSI (National Sanitation Foundation/American National Standards Institute) prepares standards which covers impurities of drinking water treatment additives from their production and distribution to user and includes documentation of the purity of additives. A key concept is that an additive should not add more than 10 percent of the MCL (Maximum Contaminant Level) of any regulated drinking water substance in order to ensure the protection of the public. independent certification entities including NSF International and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) documents that the actual purity exceeds the standards. The NSF/ANSI standard 60 and 61 were developed by a consortium of associations, including NSF International, AWWA, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators, and the Conference
