A Comparison of Sodium Fluoride in the Drinking Water with Similar Levels of Cryolite in the Diet on the Fluorine Content of the Body

Abstract

Rats on 4 p.p.m. of fluorine in drinking water as sodium fluoride retain nearly twice as much fluorine in the body as on 4 p.p.m. of fluorine as cryolite in the diet. This is due in part to the greater consumption of fluorine in the drinking water, but no doubt solubility is also a factor. In practice fluorine-bearing waters are also employed in cooking, and if we had employed a diet cooked in fluorine-containing water, the retention would have been still greater. The females showed a significantly greater percentage of fluorine in their bodies than the males when given fluorine additions to the diet or drink. No significant differences were noted in the fluorine of the body in the sexes of the control groups (29 days to 90 days).