Abstract
A quantitative study of the distribution of fluorine (7782-41-4) in animals that had been exposed to sublethal concentrations of hydrogen-fluoride (7664-39-3) by inhalation in comparison to the distribution with that found in normal animals is reported. A monkey, a guinea-pig, and rabbits were exposed to hydrogen-fluoride levels of from 0.0152 to 0.053mg and necropsies were performed 9 to 14 months later. The major emphasis was on rabbit studies. Fluorine absorbed from exposure atmospheres containing hydrogen-fluoride was distributed in the tissues, chiefly the bones, and was held in abnormal amounts for as long as 14 months following exposure. All rabbits studied stored abnormal amounts of fluorine as a result of sublethal concentration exposures, sometimes as much as ten times that normally found. In general, the relationship between the amounts of fluorine found in the muscle, lungs and central nervous system and the total amount in the animal tended to remain the same with different exposure concentrations. Blood, fat and the liver did not participate in fluorine storage. Storage of as much as ten times the amounts of fluorine normally found occurred in the rabbit without causing nutritional retardation and without producing the gross changes in the bones which usually accompany fluorosis. It is concluded that hydrogen-fluoride is a harmful agent not only as a pulmonary irritant but also as a volatile poison