‘Water is life,’ so central to human life, yet over one billion people across the world have no access to safe drinking water. Of late, there has been increasing global attention focused on resolving water quality problems especially in developing countries, as the lack of access to clean water denies the most essential of all rights, the right to life. The latest estimates suggest that around 200 million people, from among 25 nations the world over, are under the dreadful fate of fluorosis. India and China, the two most populous countries of the world, are the worst affected. India is plagued with numerous water quality problems due to prolific contaminants mainly of geogenic origin and fluoride stands first among them. The weathering of primary rocks and leaching of fluoride-containing minerals in soils yield fluoride rich groundwater in India which is generally associated with low calcium content and high bicarbonate ions. The unfettered ground water tapping exacerbates the failure of drinking water so...

Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Review on the Status and Stress Effects

Fluoride removal from water by adsorption—A review

http://edge.rit.edu/content/P13418/public/Reference%20Documents/Fluoride%20Removal/Review%20of%20fluoride%20removal%20from%20drinking%20water.pdf

Review of fluoride removal from drinking water.

Fluoride in drinking water and defluoridation of water.

Application of double focusing sector field ICP-MS for multielemental characterization of human hair and nails. Part II. A study of the inhabitants of northern Sweden

Fluoride in drinking water and human urine in northern and central Poland.

Lead and fluoride content in human bone and hair in the Gdańsk region

Total mercury in human renal cortex, liver, cerebellum and hair.

The aim of this study was to (1) estimate the concentration of selenium in the plasma of 146 residents (65 men and 81 women) and in the hair of 34 persons from the Gdansk region in northern Poland, aged 19–70 and (2) compare the obtained results with data corresponding to healthy populations living in different European countries. Selenium in plasma was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry using the hydride generation method. The mean selenium concentration in plasma of the investigated persons was 73.3 ± 14.1 µg/L, 76.7 ± 13.2 µg/L in men, and 70.4 ± 14.7 µg/L in women. No age — dependent differences in plasma selenium were found in the investigated population. In 20% of the investigated persons, the selenium level in plasma was lower than 60 µg/L. The mean selenium concentration in hair was 0.30 ± 0.11 µg/g. A positive, statistically significant correlation between selenium concentrations in the plasma and hair of the investigated persons was found. The obtained results indicate that the selenium level in significant part of this population is suboptimal and should be elevated by supplementation with this element.

Selenium levels in human plasma and hair in northern Poland.

The use of hair and bone as media in evaluation of lead exposure was investigated in this study. For 12–16 wk rats were given tap water containing lead acetate in the following concentrations: 41.7 mg Pb/L, 83.3 mg Pb/L, and 166.6 mg Pb/L. The animals were sacrificed every 4 wk and their tibia bones and hair were collected for determination of lead content. In control animals, the lead level amounted to 1.2 μg/g (range 0.8–1.3 μg/g) and 0.7 μg/g (range 0.4–2.0 μg/g) in bone and hair, respectively. In the treated rats the accumulation of lead in bone and hair occurred in a dose-dependent manner. A positive corelation (r=0.876) was established between the lead levels in bone and hair of the rats. The regression equation was as follows: μg Pb/g bone=0.842×μg Pb/g hair+1.868. After discontinuation of exposure, a significant decrease in the lead content in bone and hair was noticed. About 9 wk after cessation of treatment, the lead content in hair declined to the pre-exposure level, but 64% of the maximal lead concentration did remain in bone. The results of this study indicate that during a continuous exposure the lead level in hair reflects its content in bone. Such phenomena did not occur during the postexposure period.

J Krechniak

Papers

Fluoride in drinking water and human urine in northern and central Poland.

Lead and fluoride content in human bone and hair in the Gdańsk region

Total mercury in human renal cortex, liver, cerebellum and hair.

Selenium levels in human plasma and hair in northern Poland.

Lead levels in bone and hair of rats treated with lead acetate.