Abstract

In reviewing the effects of the 2 pollutants on vegetation and domestic animals there can be no doubt that airborne F– is far more harmful than sulfur oxides. F– reaches the blood stream both through inhalation and by ingestion with contaminated food. In plants the translocation of F– throughout the plant structure and its damaging effect on leaves, blossoms and fruit is much more pronounced than that of sulfur oxides. Sulfur oxides irritate, primarily, the upper respiratory tract. They rarely enter the distal portions of the lungs and the alveolar system. They never enter the blood stream. F–, a systemic poison, is promptly absorbed into the blood stream from the upper respiratory tract. It affects primarily the calcified tissue but can also induce considerable damage to many other organs, especially the arteries and the heart. Where there is smoke from buringing coal there is also F–. The systemic damage to humans believed to have been induced by sulfur oxides is likely to be primarily brought on by F– in conjunction with toxic agents such as As, Cd and Hg present in coal.

• Related Studies :

  • Further observations on radiological changes of endemic food borne skeletal fluorosis

    Among radiological changes in 396 cases of foodborne skeletal fluorosis, from 4 endemic areas in Guizhou, China, osteoporosis, osteomalacia and impaired bone growth were seen in addition to previously recorded findings of osteosclerosis, bone prominences, joint changes and calcification of peripheral arteries. The deformity of genu valgum, a manifestation of

  • Systemic effects of fluoridated water on rats.

    The biological effects of fluoride were investigated on rats fed pure spring water (natural F- concentration = 0.2 ppm) or spring water enriched with NaF to result 0.8, 1.1 or 2.2 ppm F- during 180 days. The main effects of fluoride have been: 1. Electrocardiographic recordings showed a significant reduction of the

  • Effects of fluoride and aluminum exposure to dams prior to and during gestation on mineral compositions of bone and selected soft tissues of female mice dams and pups.

    Sixty-four CD-1 female mice were assigned to onez of four water treatment groups: Control (distilled, deionized water) (C); Fluoride (50 ppm F as NaF) (F); Aluminum (100 ppm Al as AlCl3) (Al); and Al & F (50 ppm F & 100 ppm Al) (AlF). One-half of the animals in each

  • Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of EPA’s Standards.

    Excerpts: Summary Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to establish exposure standards for contaminants in public drinking-water systems that might cause any adverse effects on human health. These standards include the maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG), the maximum contaminant level (MCL), and the secondary

  • Medical aspects of excessive fluoride in a water supply

    A 10-year study of 116 persons in Bartlett and 121 in Cameron, Tex., was conducted to determine if prolonged exposure to fluoride in the water supply of Bartlett had produced detectable physiological effects. Bartlett's water contained about 8 p.p.m. F until 1952, when an experimental defluoridation unit was installed, reducing the

• Related FAN Content :

  • "Pre-Skeletal" Fluorosis

    As demonstrated by the studies below, skeletal fluorosis may produce adverse symptoms, including arthritic pains, clinical osteoarthritis, gastrointestinal disturbances, and bone fragility, before the classic bone change of fluorosis (i.e., osteosclerosis in the spine and pelvis) is detectable by x-ray. Relying on x-rays, therefore, to diagnosis skeletal fluorosis will invariably fail to protect those individuals who are suffering from the pre-skeletal phase of the disease. Moreover, some individuals with clinical skeletal fluorosis will not develop an increase in bone density, let alone osteosclerosis, of the spine. Thus, relying on unusual increases in spinal bone density will under-detect the rate of skeletal fluoride poisoning in a population.

  • Fluoride & Osteoarthritis

    While the osteoarthritic effects that occurred from fluoride exposure were once considered to be limited to those with skeletal fluorosis, recent research shows that fluoride can cause osteoarthritis in the absence of traditionally defined fluorosis. Conventional methods used for detecting skeletal fluorosis, therefore, will fail to detect the full range of people suffering from fluoride-induced osteoarthritis.

  • Fluoride & Electrocardiogram Abnormalities

    An electrocardiogram (ECG) is a diagnostic test that measures the electrical activity of the heart. An ECG can reveal heart rate, heart rhythym (i.e. steady or irregular), and the strength and timing of the heart’s natural electrical signals. ECGs are described in terms of “waves” (e.g. amplitude and duration). Problems

  • Fluoride & Arteriosclerosis

    Healthy arteries are flexible and elastic, allowing efficient transfer of blood and nutrients from the heart to the rest of the body. Arteriosclerosis refers to a stiffening of the arteries, including loss of elasticity. This is a slow, progressive disease that may begin early in life from damage to the

  • Skeletal Fluorosis: The Misdiagnosis Problem

    It is a virtual certainty that there are individuals in the general population unknowingly suffering from some form of skeletal fluorosis as a result of a doctor's failure to consider fluoride as a cause of their symptoms. Proof that this is the case can be found in the following case reports of skeletal fluorosis written by doctors in the U.S. and other western countries. As can be seen, a consistent feature of these reports is that fluorosis patients--even those with crippling skeletal fluorosis--are misdiagnosed for years by multiple teams of doctors who routinely fail to consider fluoride as a possible cause of their disease.