Fluoride accumulation and toxicity in wild small mammals

Bone fluoride concentrations of eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) resident near an aluminium smelter in south-eastern Australia

“…While approximately 50% of absorbed fluoride is excreted through the kidneys (Whitford 1996), the remaining 50% is deposited in mineralised tissues, such as tooth or bone (Armstrong et al 1970), from which re-absorption is slow (Whitford 1996). Chronic fluoride toxicity is a wellrecognised cause of skeletal and/or dental disease in a wide range of mammals, including humans (Franke et al 1977), domestic and wild ungulates (Newell and Schmidt 1958;Shupe et al 1963;Newman and Yu 1976;Kierdorf and Kierdorf 1999b) and rodents (Boulton et al 1994). Gross skeletal lesions associated with osteofluorosis include osteosclerosis, osteoporosis, cartilage damage and new bone formation (exostoses, hyperostosis and/or osteophytosis) (Shupe et al 1963;Johnson 1965;Sauerbrunn et al 1965;Thompson 2007).…”

Dental fluorosis and skeletal fluoride content as biomarkers of excess fluoride exposure in marsupials

“…More recently, dental fluorosis was also reported in red deer from Argentina exposed to fluoridecontaining tephra from the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic eruption (Flueck and Smith-Flueck, 2013). Dental fluorosis in animals exposed to excess fluoride from industrial sources has been reported in a range of species of small mammals (Boulton et al, 1994;Walton, 1987), white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus (Karstad, 1967;Suttie et al, 1987), black-tailed deer, Odocoileus hemionus (Newman and Yu, 1976), roe deer, Capreolus capreolus (Hell et al, 1995;Kierdorf, 1988;Kierdorf et al, 1993;, red deer (Kierdorf et al, 1996a,b;Shupe et al, 1984;, moose, Alces alces , bison, Bison bison (Shupe et al, 1984), and wild boar, Sus scrofa (Kierdorf et al, 2000). Across species, levels of fluoride measured in bone reflect the accumulation of fluoride throughout the life of an individual, so bone fluoride levels increase with age (Kay et al, 1976;Kierdorf et al, 1995;Weinstein and Davison, 2004).…”

Changes in the Structure of Dentine from Cheek Teeth of Deer Chronically Exposed to High Levels of Environmental Fluoride

“…Chronic responses to fluoride on dentine are less well documented [Schour and Smith, 1934;Appleton, 1994]. Macroscopical changes in teeth, due to increased uptake of fluoride produced experimentally or from animals exposed to pollution in the wild have been recorded for a variety of species, including sheep [Suckling et al, 1982[Suckling et al, , 1984[Suckling et al, , 1988, small mammals [Boulton et al, 1994], the rat [Appleton, 1988[Appleton, , 1992[Appleton, , 1994, cattle [Suttie et al, 1972] and a number of deer species [Kay, 1975;Kay et al, 1975;Newman and Murphy, 1979;Shupe et al, 1984;Suttie et al, 1985Suttie et al, , 1987Kierdorf et al, 1993Kierdorf et al, , 1996.…”

“…Increasing concern is being expressed about the effects of environmental pollution by fluorides on wildlife [Suttie et al, 1972;Shupe et al, 1984;Walton, 1988;Walton and Ackroyd, 1988;Machoy et al, 1991;Kierdorf et al, 1993Kierdorf et al, , 1995Kierdorf et al, , 1996Boulton et al, 1994] particularly in Eastern Europe, and reflected especially in free ranging animals such as deer whose teeth and bones show fluorosis [Walton, 1988;Kierdorf, 1989, 1997;Kierdorf et al, 1993Kierdorf et al, , 1995Kierdorf et al, , 1996. The effects of increased exposure to fluoride on developing enamel and dentine have been studied extensively and current knowledge has been most recently reviewed by Fejerskov et al [1994].…”