Abstract

The relationship between intakes of fluoride (F) from drinking water and blood pressure has not yet been reported. We examined the relationship of F in ground water resources (GWRs) of Iran with the blood pressure of Iranian population in an ecologic study. The mean F data of the GWRs (as a surrogate for F levels in drinking water) were derived from a previously conducted study. The hypertension prevalence and the mean of systolic and diastolic blood pressures (SBP & DBP) of Iranian population by different provinces and genders were also derived from the provincial report of non-communicable disease risk factor surveillance of Iran. Statistically significant positive correlations were found between the mean concentrations of F in the GWRs and the hypertension prevalence of males (r?=?0.48, p?=?0.007), females (r?=?0.36, p?=?0.048), and overall (r?=?0.495, p?=?0.005). Also, statistically significant positive correlations between the mean concentrations of F in the GWRs and the mean SBP of males (r?=?0.431, p?=?0.018), and a borderline correlation with females (r?=?0.352, p?=?0.057) were found. In conclusion, we found the increase of hypertension prevalence and the SBP mean with the increase of F level in the GWRs of Iranian population.