OTHER STUDIES

In volcanic areas, fluoride pollution and poisoning can result from the release of naturally occurring fluorine compounds during volcanic eruptions, posing health risks to both the environment and local populations.
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OTHER STUDIES

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CONGO

Kasereka MM, Cuoco E, Zabene FZ, Balagizi CM - "Baseline for rainwater chemistry and quality as influenced by Nyiragongo volcano permanent plume, East Africa" Chemosphere 283:130859 (2021). doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130859
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 3521013308
Abstract

Single rainwater samples were collected in the city of Goma (~1,1 million inhabitants), eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, from January to June 2013 to draw a baseline for rainwater chemical composition and quality as influenced by the permanent plume of Nyiragongo volcano. This was a better period for a baseline as the neighboring Nyamulagira volcano, only 15 km apart, had no important degassing from its central crater, and hence the recorded volcanic influence on the rainwater chemistry was solely from Nyiragongo's lava lake which has been active since May 2002. The baseline for the rainwater chemistry and quality is important for this highly populated region where rainwater is the unique potable water source for the inhabitants of many villages surrounding the volcanoes, and for some of the inhabitants of the city of Goma. Our results show that samples collected at the crater rim of Nyiragongo were more acidic with pH ranging from 3.70 to 3.82, while the majority of rainwater samples collected in downtown Goma city and to the northeastern zone of the volcano had pH close to 5.7; which represents the value for rainwater from unpolluted continental areas (Berner and Berner, 2012). However, the pH was as low as 3.93 to the west of Nyiragongo volcano because the volcanic plume is directed westward by the dominant local wind direction. The western part of the city of Goma as well as the small town of Sake and many villages (e.g. Rusayo, Mubambiro, Kingi, …) are located in this zone, and experience endemic fluorosis caused by high fluoride in the available water. The mean F- in this zone was 0.38 mg/L, while the southern and northeastern zones had mean F- concentrations on 0.44 and 0.01 mg/L respectively; even though concentrations higher than the WHO guidelines were found in few samples from the western zone (1.69 mg/L) and from the southern zone (3.44 mg/L). Compared to data from Cuoco et al. (2012) obtained during the Nyamulagira 2010 eruption, and from Balagizi et al.2017 and Liotta et al., 2017 obtained during the intense degassing of both Nyiragongo and Nyamulagira lava lakes; we have noted similarity in the spatial variation of the pH, but samples from the present study showed notable lower concentrations of major elements. This is the case for fluoride which is strictly of volcanic origin. For the other major elements, anthropogenic sources, mainly the traffic and wind-blown dust; or other non-volcanic natural sources influenced their concentrations. Thus, the anions (Cl- and SO42-) and cations (Na+, K+, Mg2+, and Ca2+) from the present study are either lower compared to that previously reported in the literature for the Virunga, or are both comparable for the zones impacted by anthropogenic activities.
SPAIN

Rodríguez I, Burgos A, Rubio C, Gutiérrez AJ, Paz S, Rodrigues da Silva Júnior FM, Hardisson A, Revert C - "Human exposure to fluoride from tea (Camellia sinensis) in a volcanic region-Canary Islands, Spain" Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 27(35):43917-43928 (2020)doi: 10.1007/s11356-020-10319-9.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.10 ... 20-10319-9
Fluoride is highly present in the environment, especially in water and its derivatives. Excessive fluoride contribution to diet poses a health risk. Tea leaves accumulate fluoride and the consumption of tea (Camellia sinensis) could pose a risk to human by the excessive fluoride intake. Ninety tea samples were analyzed by potentiometry using a selective fluoride ion electrode. Mixed tea samples (2.82 ± 1.11 mg/L) and black tea samples (2.28 ± 0.79 mg/L) recorded the highest fluoride levels. The contribution of drinking water is important for increasing fluoride levels in teas. The daily consumption of two cups (250 mL per cup) of mixed and black teas prepared with La Laguna tap water does pose a health risk for children (4-8 years old) because of the high contribution percentages (74.4% and 63.6%, respectively) of the Tolerable Upper Intake Level set in 2.5 mg/day by the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority). A minor consumption in children (4-8 years old) and adults during pregnancy is advisable.
Rubio C, Rodríguez I, Jaudenes JR, Gutiérrez AJ, Paz S, Burgos A, Hardisson A, Revert C - "Fluoride levels in supply water from a volcanic area in the Macaronesia region" Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 27(11):11587-11595 (2020) doi: 10.1007/s11356-020-07702-x.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.10 ... 20-07702-x
Fluoride is a widely distributed ion in the environment and, consequently, in water as well. High levels of fluoride in waters can be found in the Canary Islands because of their volcanic origin. Due to the risk and detrimental effects associated with a high fluoride intake, the content of this ion has been potentiometrically determined in 256 supply water samples from the islands of Tenerife, El Hierro, and La Palma, using a fluoride selective ion electrode. Fluoride mean concentration found on Tenerife is 4.22 mg/L, exceeding the parametric value of 1.5 mg/L set out in Spanish legislation. The consumption of 2 L of water from the studied municipalities of Tenerife would mean there is an excessive fluoride intake. The consumption of this water poses a serious risk to health. It is necessary to take action aimed at reducing the level of fluoride in the north of the island of Tenerife.
PORTUGAL

Linhares D, Camarinho R, Garcia PV, Rodrigues ADS - "Mus musculus bone fluoride concentration as a useful biomarker for risk assessment of skeletal fluorosis in volcanic areas" Chemosphere 205:540-544 (2018). doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.04.144
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 3518307938
Abstract

Fluoride is often found in elevated concentrations in volcanic areas due to the release of magmatic fluorine as hydrogen fluorine through volcanic degassing. The exposure to high levels of fluoride can affect the processes of bone formation and resorption causing skeletal fluorosis, a pathology that can easily be mistaken for other skeletal diseases. In this study, we aimed to determine if fluoride concentration in the femoral bone of wild populations of the house mouse (Mus musculus) is a good biomarker of exposure to active volcanic environments naturally enriched in fluoride, allowing their use in biomonitoring programs. The fluoride concentration of the whole femoral bone of 9 mice from Furnas (5 males and 4 females) and 33 mice from Rabo de Peixe (16 males and 17 females) was measured by the potentiometric method with a fluoride ion selective electrode. Fluoride in bones was significantly higher in the mice from Furnas when compared with the mice from Rabo de Peixe (616.5 ± 129.3 μg F/g vs. 253.8 ± 10.5 μg F/g). Accumulation rates were also significantly higher in the mice collected in Furnas when compared with Rabo de Peixe individuals (3.84 ± 0.52 μg F/day vs. 1.22 ± 0.06 μg F/day). The results demonstrate a significant association between exposure to fluoride in the active volcanic environment and fluoride content in bone, revealing that bone fluoride concentration is a suitable biomarker of chronic environmental exposure to fluoride.
ITALY

Petrone P, Giordano M, Giustino S, Guarino FM - "Enduring fluoride health hazard for the Vesuvius area population: the case of AD 79 Herculaneum." PLoS One 6(6):e21085 (2011). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0021085
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3116870/
Abstract

Background: The study of ancient skeletal pathologies can be adopted as a key tool in assessing and tracing several diseases from past to present times. Skeletal fluorosis, a chronic metabolic bone and joint disease causing excessive ossification and joint ankylosis, has been only rarely considered in differential diagnoses of palaeopathological lesions. Even today its early stages are misdiagnosed in endemic areas.

Methodology/principal findings: Endemic fluorosis induced by high concentrations of fluoride in water and soils is a major health problem in several countries, particularly in volcanic areas. Here we describe for the first time the features of endemic fluorosis in the Herculaneum victims of the 79 AD eruption, resulting from long-term exposure to high levels of environmental fluoride which still occur today.

Conclusions/significance: Our observations on morphological, radiological, histological and chemical skeletal and dental features of this ancient population now suggest that in this area fluorosis was already endemic in Roman times. This evidence merged with currently available epidemiologic data reveal for the Vesuvius area population a permanent fluoride health hazard, whose public health and socio-economic impact is currently underestimated. The present guidelines for fluoridated tap water might be reconsidered accordingly, particularly around Mt Vesuvius and in other fluoride hazard areas with high natural fluoride levels.
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