Oklahoma

PFPC Daily - May 29, 2004

There are many fluoride-polluted areas in Oklahoma.

The site of the Oklahoma Refining Co. in Cyril is usually not listed as a fluoride-contaminated site. The fluoride pollution was discovered when researchers investigated effects of site contaminants on cotton rats (Paranjpe et al, 1994).

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The Oklahoma Refining Company site is an abandoned oil refinery encompassing approximately 160 acres. The refinery was active between 1908 and 1984. It is a NPL site. During the many years of production, wastes were placed in pits and impoundments on the refinery property.  Subsequently toxins leeched into soil and ground water supplies. While some actions to clean up the site have been taken, it was decided in 1995 to postpone ground water clean up indefinitely.

Cotton rats which had been captured on the Cyril sites have shown fluoride poisoning (Paranjpe et al, 1994).

Further investigation revealed that the land treatment did not reduce fluoride levels to background levels (Schroder et al, 2003).

REFERENCES:

Paranjpe MG, Chandra A MS, Qualls C W JR,  McMurray ST, Rohrer MD, Whaley MM, Lochmiller RL, McBee K - "Toxicological Pathology 22(6):569-578 (1994)
http://makeashorterlink.com/?L2EB25E68

Schroder J, Basta N, Payton M, Wilson J, Carlson R, Janz D, Lochmiller R - “Ecotoxicological risks associated with land treatment of petrochemical wastes. I. Residual soil contamination and bioaccumulation by cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus)” J Toxicol Environ Health A 66(4):305-25 (2003) MEDLINE
http://makeashorterlink.com/?D24B52E68

“Bone F was an accurate predictor of the severity of dental fluorosis. Strong relationships were found between bone F and HCl-extractable F and bone F and total F in soils of land-treatment units...This study shows that certain contaminants such as Pb and F tend to bioaccumulate in cotton rats collected from land treatment units. Land treatment was ineffective in reducing levels of these contaminants to background levels that will not pose an increase in risk to terrestrial mammals.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd =Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=773227 4

Abstract: We have developed an in situ mammalian model for evaluating environmental contamination using wild cotton rats. In a series of experiments, 200 male cotton rats were captured during 4 collection periods (spring 1991 = 35; fall 1991 = 60; spring 1992 = 53; fall 1992 = 52). A total of 103 of these cotton rats were captured from control sites, and the remaining 97 were captured from an abandoned oil refinery. All sites were located in the vicinity of Cyril, Oklahoma. There were alterations in the incisors of cotton rats captured from the refinery site. Normal color of cotton rat incisors is deep yellow-orange, which is imparted by a pigment normally produced by ameloblasts. Grossly, the upper incisors of 37 of 97 rats and lower incisors of 54 of 97 rats were affected. The affected incisors were white, chalky, and thin with striations and erosions of the enamel.
Microscopic examination revealed that there were dysplastic and necrotic changes in the ameloblasts. The bone fluoride levels were significantly higher in rats captured from the refinery as compared to the rats captured from the control sites.
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Cotton County Rural Water District #2 was awarded a $250,000 CDBG by
the Commerce Department to help pay for capital improvements, Rep.
Raymond McCarter and Sen. Sam Helton said. The district is contributing
$40,000 for the planned renovations, and has applied to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program for a $3.8 million
loan and grant.


The mixing station would be used to dilute water from the newly drilled
well. That water is “a little high” in naturally occurring fluoride,
Kinder said. “It’s more than the Health Department allows.” As a result,
lake water acquired from CKT Rural Water would be mixed with the
groundwater from the new well to lower the fluoride content, he
explained.

http://www.google.ca/search?q=cache:vFLKg2hcEmQJ: www.lsb.state.ok.us/house/NEWS6311.htm+cyril+Oklah oma+fluoride&hl=en

Green LN,  Al-Shaieb Z - “Source of high-fluoride ground water, west-central Comanche County, Oklahoma:  Report for the Water Research Institute, Oklahoma State University (1982)

Schroder JL, et al "Ecotoxicological Risks Associated with Land Treatment of Petrochemical Wastes. I. Residual Soil Contamination and Bioaccumulation by Cotton Rats (Sigmodon Hispidus)" Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health Part A 66(4):305-325 (2003)

http://www.deq.state.ok.us/lpdnew/FactSheets/Land% 20Report%20Aug02.pdf

The


Wilson J, Carlson R, Janz D, Lochmiller R, Schroder J, Basta N - “Ecotoxicological risks associated with land treatment of petrochemical wastes.III. Immune function and hematology of cotton rats” J Toxicol Environ Health A 66(4):345-63 (2003)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd =Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=125545 41



Schroder J, Basta N, Payton M, Wilson J, Carlson R, Janz D, Lochmiller R - “Ecotoxicological risks associated with land treatment of petrochemical wastes. I. Residual soil contamination and bioaccumulation by cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus)” J Toxicol Environ Health A 66(4):305-25 (2003)
MEDLINE
http://makeashorterlink.com/?D24B52E68

“Bone F was an accurate predictor of the severity of dental fluorosis. Strong relationships were found between bone F and HCl-extractable F and bone F and total F in soils of land-treatment units...This study shows that certain contaminants such as Pb and F tend to bioaccumulate in cotton rats collected from land treatment units. Land treatment was ineffective in reducing levels of these contaminants to background levels that will not pose an increase in risk to terrestrial mammals.”



The Oklahoma Refining Company, located in Cyril, is an abandoned oil refinery encompassing approximately 160 acres. The refinery was active between 1908 and 1984. It is a NPL site. During the many years of production, wastes were placed in pits and impoundments on the refinery property. Subsequently toxins leeched into soil and ground
water supplies. While some actions to clean up the site have been taken, it was decided in 1995 to postpone ground water clean up indefinitely.

Cotton rats which had been captured on the Cyril sites have shown fluoride poisoning (Paranjpe et al, 1994). Further investigation revealed that the land treatment did not reduce fluoride levels to background levels (Schroder et al, 2003).

Ozark-Mahoning Site, Tulsa

Ozark Chemical Company built a plant at the Tulsa site in 1925 to produce sulfuric acid. in 1943, the US government built two more sulfuric acid production facilities at the site to support the war effort. In 1947 Ozark Chemical Company changed its name to Ozark Mahoning Company and bought the two government plants. Ozark dismantled the original sulfuric acid plant but left the building in place and in 1948 converted it to a superphosphate fertilizer production plant. (DEQ Oklahoma Land Protection Report, Jan 2001 to
Dec 2001, Compiled by Land Protection Division, PO Box 1677, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73101).

The Ozark-Mahoning Patents described their product (Monofluorophosphate) as "of value for the synthesis of various organic materials useful as insecticides, or as a catalyst and for other purposes in the arts" [1].

[1] Lange W., Livingston R.: "Anhydrous monofluorophosphoric acid and method of producing it", US Patent 2,408,784, appl. Mar. 11, 1943, patented Oct. 8, 1946 [Patents are accessible at either
                       http://165.195.100.11/netahtml/srchnum.htm (US Patent and Trademark Office) or http://www.depatisnet.de (the German Patent and Trademark Office, where international patents are available online)]

Since 1927 Willy Lange, of Berlin had worked on Phosphorus-Fluorine compounds and prepared monofluorophosphates already in 1929. In 1932 he reported on the toxic effects of the dimethyl and diethyl esters. In 1943 he patented MFP preparation, assigned to Ozark Mahoning. In 1950 he worked with Procter and Gamble and was financially supported by Ozark Mahoning, while his partner, Ralph Livingston, worked for Monsanto.

 Still its use was somewhat limited: "Commercial uses of these monofluorophosphates are as yet not highly developed, due probably in large part to the lack heretofore of a practical commercial method for their production in quantity, but researches thus far completed indicate that they may have wide application in medicine, insecticides, mothproofing, electrochemical processes and other fields."

Some of Hodge's research had been financed by the Ozark Mahoning Chemical Company

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Fluoride does not have to be inhaled in order to cause lung damage.

PFPC Daily - May 30, 2004

Numerous recent letters inquired about the effects of inhaling F- from air pollution, presuming that the effects of F- on lung disease were from inhalation.

Fluorides not have to be inhaled in order to affect the lung.

We post an abstract from a recent study by Ayden et al. on rats, as well as a few other links to items of interest.

See:http://64.177.90.157/pfpc/html/tb.html

See also:

Astma
http://64.177.90.157/pfpc/html/asthma.html


Aydin G, Cicek E, Akdogan M, Gokalp O - “Histopathological and biochemical changes in lung tissues of rats following administration of fluoride over several generations.” J Appl Toxicol 23(6):437-46 (2003)

The possible effects of multigenerational administration of sodium fluoride (NaF) via drinking water on lung tissue morphology and biochemistry and body and lung weight were investigated in second-generation adult male rats. For this purpose we selected 45 Albino adult Wistar rats in nine cages, each of which consisted of four females and one male. Twenty-eight pregnant rats were selected for the experiment, divided into four groups of seven rats given 1 (control group), 10, 50 and 100 mg l(-1) NaF in drinking water during the gestation period. After gestation the rats had 165 pups in total. The mothers received fluoridated water during the lactation period and the offspring of the first generation had access to fluoridated water during the suckling period (21 days) and after the weaning period (30 days) until they became mature and at the start of the second part of the experiment. During this time 23 pups died and 79 female and 63 male first-generation rats survived. These first-generation rats were then used to obtain the second-generation offspring in the same manner as before, which were subjected to the same treatments. At the end of 6 months the rats were sacrificed and autopsied. Serum fluoride levels and the activities of principal antioxidant enzymes were determined in lung tissue samples taken from all groups. In addition, the lung tissues were submitted for histopathological examination. Histological findings showed alveolar congestion, alveolar cell hyperplasia and necrosis, prominent alveolar septal vessels, epithelial desquamation and macrophages in the alveolar spaces in the experimental groups. Additionally, there were inflammatory infiltrations in peribronchial, perivascular, intraparenchymal and respiratory tract lumen; intraparenchymal hyperaemic vessels; respiratory epithelial desquamation and proliferation; intraparenchymal thick walled vessels; parenchymal fibrosis; bronchiolitis; pneumonic and focal emphysematous areas. Furthermore, the lung parenchyma was observed to have a distorted appearance with loss of alveolar architecture. These histopathological findings were more pronounced for the rat groups of 50 and 100 mg l(-1) fluoride. No significant histopathological changes were observed in the rats of the control group. The increased activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and reduced glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and the decreased activity of catalase (CAT) in the lung tissues with 10 mg l(-1) fluoride might indicate activation of the antioxidant defence mechanism. The decrease in SOD, GSH-Px and CAT activities with 50 and 100 mg l(-1) fluoride and the increase in thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance levels might be related to oxidative damage that occurred in the lung. This multigenerational evaluation of the long-term effect of different doses of fluoride intake through drinking water on lung damage shows that the lung tissues were damaged, there was emphysema and inflammation of lung parenchyma associated with loss of  alveolar architecture and the degree of lung damage seemed to correlate with the increased dosage of fluoride. A similar relationship was observed between the degree of lung damage, body and lung weight and serum fluoride levels according to the fluoride dose. Therefore, these results contribute to a better understanding of chronic fluoride toxicity in lung tissue of second-generation rats, especially via drinking water, and the biochemical findings were in agreement with histological observations. In addition, increased fluoride concentration did not affect reproduction or the number of pups dying but the body weight and lung weight ratios were affected by the high dose of fluoride  in a dose-related pattern.