EPA Declines To Ban Fluoridation Agent

EPA has denied a petition to ban the use of hydrofluorosilicic acid (HFSA) to fluoridate drinking water. The petition was filed on May 9 by a group of students, faculty, and alumni from American University; it claims that HFSA, a by-product from the phosphate industry, contaminates drinking water with arsenic, lead, and radionuclides. The group urged EPA to ban the use of HFSA in drinking water, a move that would force drinking water plants to switch to pharmaceutical-grade sodium fluoride. In an Aug. 12 response to the petition, EPA acknowledges that the levels of arsenic in HFSA are higher than those in pharmaceutical-grade NaF. But the agency says that the amount of arsenic in drinking water due to HFSA is about 0.08 ppb, which is orders of magnitude lower than EPA’s current limit of 10 ppb for arsenic in drinking water. EPA also says the petitioners provided insufficient evidence that HFSA increases the levels of lead or ­radionuclides. Factoring in the higher costs of pharmaceutical-grade NaF compared with HFSA, EPA concluded that switching to NaF provides no net benefit.