Fluorine in the Aetiology of Endemic Goitre

The distribution of endemic goitre in the Punjab and in England is related to the geological distribution of fluorine and to the distribution of human dental fluorosis (mottled enamel). Inquiry showed the presence of dental fluorosis among school-children in two areas of Somerset where two previous observers had recorded a high incidence of goitre, and the absence of dental fluorosis in an adjoining area selected as control where endemic goitre was absent.