Fluoride exposure and its health risk assessment in drinking water and staple food in the population of Dayyer, Iran, in 2013

AIMS: The aims of this study were to determine fluoride concentration in drinking water and staple foods consumed by residents of Dayyer port (Bushehr province, south of Iran) and to assess its health risk via human intake in 2013. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Health risk assessment due to fluoride exposure via consumption of drinking water, date, vegetables and fish was conducted in spring and summer of 2013 using the US-EPA (United States—Environmental Protection Agency) method, which considers hazard quotient (HQ) as a ratio of the estimated dose of a contaminant to the reference dose. A fluoride ion-selective electrode (ISE) measured the fluoride contents of food samples. The sodium-2-(parasulfophenyl largo)-1,8-dihydroxy-3,6-naphtnalene disulfonate colorimetric method (SPADNS) was used to determine fluoride concentration in water samples. RESULTS: The total estimated oral intake of fluoride for children in summer and spring were 120.6 and 145.6 µg/kg/day, respectively. These values for adults were 99.2 and 112 µg/kg/day. This survey demonstrated that drinking water was the most important contributor of dietary fluoride intake in the study area. CONCLUSION: HQ values for adults and children were >1 which approves that a potential health risk of fluorosis can exist. The recommendations for the study area are supplying drinking water from alternative sources and defluoridation of drinking water by an adsorption technique and membrane filtration, respectively. Furthermore, people are suggested to have a good nutrition (especially rich of vitamin C) to reduce the risk of fluorosis.