Fluoride Problems

Over the years rapid strides have been made in India to mould the availability of water to match country’s manifold water demand. However, in some part of the country ground water pollution problem has not been addressed properly. Water is frequently referred to as a universal solvent, because it has the ability to dissolve almost all substance; that comes in its contact. Some elements are essential in trace amount for human being while higher concentration of the same can cause toxic effects. Fluoride is one of them. It is a conclusive fact that concentration between 0.6 to1.2 mg/ l is essential to protect teeth decay, while higher concentration (beyond 1.5 mg/l) can cause teeth mottling and still higher concentration of fluoride may lead to different major health hazards .The importance of developing quality drinking water system facilities in any health care programme of the country can hardly be over emphasized.

It is, therefore, imperative that groundwater, free from higher fluoride concentration needs to be explored & where ever the concentration is high, mitigation strategies have to be adopted on urgent basis. Fluorosis was first detected in India among cattle’s by farmers of Nalgonda district (A.P) during early 1930’s .It was during years later; the same disease was detected in human being. However subsequent investigations have established that, the total number of states declared endemic for fluorosis are 15 by the year 1992. In this paper an attempt has been made to synthesize available information on fluoride concentration in ground water of the country, its effect on human health and possible remedial measures have also been looked in to.

Fluoride levels in various types of environmental samples show wide variations from a low of 1.2 µg/m3 in the air samples over Delhi to a very high value of over 18,000 µg/l in a hot spring in the Western Ghats region, due to which the surface water samples in the mountain streams generally show higher F levels. Large rivers with large run-off show higher levels of fluoride and hence greater fluoride flux to the oceans. Higher fluoride exposures due to enhanced application of rock phosphates adversely affect the health of our aquatic environment, in addition to decreasing the per capita availability of safe drinking water.

WATER availability is a critical factor in socioeconomic development, limiting progress in many areas such as south Asia and other arid and semi-arid zones. In most parts of the world, the finite supply of freshwater is put to heavy use. Industrial wastes, sewage and agricultural run-off can overload rivers and lakes with chemicals, wastes and nutrients, and poison water supplies. At present, the annual freshwater consumption is around 4000 km3 throughout the world with India’s consumption being just 10% of this value. But the quantity of freshwater demand does not reflect the problems associated with water quality parameters such as hardness, fluoride, bacterial count and toxic metal content. In India, the arsenic-related problem in drinking water is already well known. An estimated 62 million people, including 6 million children suffer from fluorosis because of consuming fluoride-contaminated (> 1000 ppb) water.