Abstract

In an endemic fluorosis area, 16 fetuses that were delivered during their sixth to eighth month of gestation by means of artificial abortion were collected and studied. The results [compared to 10 control fetuses from a non-endemic area] show that fluorine levels in tissues are obviously high, especially in brain, calvarium, and femur. The activity of alkaline phosphatase in femur and kidney was raised. By observation of the ultrastructure of samples, the number of mitochondria, rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum, and free ribosome in neurons of cerebral cortex were reduced, and the rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum was obviously dilated. These findings indicate that the neurons of the cerebral cortex in the developing brain may be one of the targets of fluorine.

Translated by Julian Brooke for Fluoride Action Network and published with the permission of the Chinese Journal of Control of Endemic Diseases 1989;4(3):136-8 in the journal Fluoride.

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