Thar experiencing endemic fluorosis: expert

[pfpcnews]

Thar experiencing endemic fluorosis: expert

HYDERABAD: The Thar Desert is experiencing endemic fluorosis on a regional scale, Tahir Rafique, a senior scientific officer in the Pakistan Council of Scientific Industrial Research (PCSIR), Karachi, said here on Friday.

Addressing a seminar on "Occurrence, Distribution and Origin of Fluoride-Rich Groundwater in the Thar Desert, Pakistan," he said a study confirmed high fluoride in the groundwater of the study area, adding that it was found that 78.77 per cent of the analysed water samples had fluoride values exceeding the limit of 1.5 mg/l proposed by the WHO.

He pointed out that distribution patterns showed that the high fluoride groundwater was concentrated along the north and northeastern side of the Thar Desert, especially in the Chahchro and Umerkot areas. The Vice-Chancellor University of Sindh, Mazharul Haq Siddiqui, who presided over the seminar, appreciated the research work carried out by Tahir Rafique.

SOURCE:
http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=117158