Fluoride Ingestion with Fluoridated Domestic Salt under Swedish Dietary Conditions

Abstract

The investigation had the purpose of studying the fluoride (F) doses obtained with fluoridated salt (F salt) under Swedish dietary conditions. 46 families in rural and urban areas of central Sweden used F salt containing 380 mg F/kg for 1 week and kept records of the quantities of every F-salted food consumed by the children and one of the adults of each family. A sample of every F-salted food was analyzed, and the F dose obtained was calculated for every F-salted dish, meal, and day. The results are reported separately for 1- to 3-year-old and 4- to 12-year-old children and for adults. The number of F-salted meals per day tended to increase with age, but in all groups the incidence of one such meal per day was near 50%, that of two F-salted meals per day about 25%. Average daily doses were slightly above 0.5 mg F in the younger children, 0.75–1 mg in the older children and between 1 and 2 mg in the adults. Single meal doses exceeding 1 mg were rare and distributed on several individuals. The F supply was fairly evenly distributed among 14 main types of foods except bread. On small groups of adults and children the blood plasma F concentrations were studied after a heavily F-salted test meal and compared with the corresponding concentrations after drinking large volumes of fluoridated water. The plasma F elevations were about as high after F salt as after F water although the test doses of F were more than twice as high with the Fsalt.