Fluoride Action Network

Abstract

In a study involving 2200 patients the inorganic plasma fluoride concentration (IPFC) increased with increasing age. In a fluoridated (1 ppm) community this increase was more pronounced than in a low fluoride (0.2 ppm) community. The mean renal clearance of fluoride and the daily amounts excreted also increased slightly until age fifty, after which a slow decrease was observed. During pregnancy, IPFC decreased significantly until delivery in both fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas. The daily fluoride excretion was also lower during pregnancy than in controls. Patients with renal insufficiency had a mean IPFC of 3.0 + 0.45 umoI/l in the fluoridated and 2. 0 ± 0.14 in the low fluoride community. Their daily fluoride excretion was less than half of that of the control groups. Regularly hemodialyzed patients showed the highest IPFC. In a 6 year-old boy with diabetes insipidus, the IPFC was four times as high as in the corresponding controls. In diabetes mellitus with renal complications, the IPFC was also elevated. Increased water consumption did not cause greater retention of fluoride. In cardiac insufficiency, with normal serum creatinine the IPFC was only slightly elevated.