Sources and toxicity of fluoride in the environment

Fluoride, a naturally occurring element, exists in combination with other elements as a fluoride compound, and is found naturally in water, foods, soil, and several minerals such as fluorite and fluorapatite. Fluoride normally enters the environment and human body through water, food, industrial exposure, drugs, cosmetics, etc. However, fluoride (F^?) contamination in groundwater has been recognized as a serious problem worldwide. The World Health Organization’s specified tolerance limit of fluoride in drinking water is 1.5 mg/L. Human disease caused by fluoride manifests itself in three forms: dental, skeletal, and non-skeletal fluorosis. Apart from teeth and bones, the interaction and involvement of soft tissues, organs, and other systems of the body with fluoride leads to non-skeletal fluorosis. It leads to many bone diseases, mottling of teeth, and lesions of the endocrine glands, thyroid, liver, kidney, and other organs. Fluoride ion concentration in drinking water can be easily estimated by UV-Vis spectrophotometer. Various defluoridation techniques have been developed to reduce the fluoride content to the desired level including principally membrane and adsorption processes. Biosorption is still one of the most extensively used methods for defluoridation of drinking water due to it being cost-free or low cost and because of its viability.     

煤烘玉米和饮水为介质地氟病区骨畸形病人全血尿多元素含量的分析

采集了贵族个煤烘玉米为主要介质和河北２个饮水为介质氟病区内骨畸形病人的全血、尿、检测了其中８种元素含量,结果表明,贵州各氟病区少儿骨软化与成年骨硬化畸形病人的全血铝、钙、磷、铁和尿氟、铝均显著高于同龄对照组,尿磷均低于同龄对照组。少儿骨软化病人全血锌均下降,尿锌多下降。某水型氟病区骨软化经产妇尿氟、全血铜升高;骨软化少年全血铝显著升高,锌、铁下降,尿氟升高,尿锌,磷下降。海边的典型氟骨症病人全血、     

On the E.S.R. spectra of intermediates generated during the electrochemical oxidation of triphenylacetic acid in acetonitrile

The acidity level and the fluoride ion activity are evaluated in anhydrous HF and in water+HF mixtures of HF content higher than 70% by means of R(H) and R(F) functions. For both functions, the potentials of the ferrocene/ferricinium or perylene⁺/perylene²⁺ systems are used as reference potentials. A hydrogen electrode is used for acidity level evaluation and it is shown that the R(H) function decreases (acidity increases) when HF content increases in the mixture; the value of R(H) is ?15.5 for anhydrous hydrogen fluoride (+KF 0.1 M). A lanthanum trifluoride monocrystal electrode is built and used for F^? activity evaluations and it is shown that the R(F) function increases (activity of fluoride ion decreases) when HF content increases, up to R(F)=13.6 for basic anhydrous HF (KF 0.1 M solution).     

The fluoride ion-selective electrode in flow injection analysis : Part 3. Applications

Flow-injection potentiometry with a combination fluoride-selective electrode is used to determine fluoride in tap water, beverages and urine. Excellent sensitivity (down to 1 μg l^?1) and long-term stability are obtained, with a sample throughput of 30–40 h^?1, based on triplicate injections at 120 h^?1. The commonly used buffer TISAB-III is unsuitable for the analysis of undiluted tea and urine samples. The application of a modified citrate-containing TISAB overcomes interferences caused by high natural ionic strength and avoids complexation of fluoride. Recoveries after spiking tap water, tea and urine with fluoride concentration ranging from 0.01 to 1 mg l^?1 are in the range 91–106%. The equipment used provides a flexible system allowing fast changes between different buffers and carrier streams depending on the samples presented.     

Adsorption equilibrium modeling and solution chemistry dependence of fluoride removal from water by trivalent-cation-exchanged zeolite F-9

Fluoride in drinking water above permissible levels is responsible for human dental and skeletal fluorosis. In this study, therefore, the large internal surface area of zeolite was utilized to create active sites for fluoride sorption by exchanging Na+-bound zeolite with Al3+ or La3+ ions. Fluoride removal from water using Al3+- and La3+-exchanged zeolite F-9 particles was subsequently investigated to evaluate the fluoride sorption characteristics of the sorbents. Equilibrium isotherms such as the two-site Langmuir (L), Freundlich (F), Langmuir-Freundlich (LF), Redlich-Peterson (RP), Toth (T), and Dubinin-Radushkevitch (DR) were successfully used to model the experimental data. Modeling results showed that the isotherm parameters weakly depended on the solution temperature. From the DR isotherm parameters, it was considered that the uptake of fluoride by Al3+-exchanged zeolite proceeded by an ion-exchange mechanism (E = 11.32-12.13 kJ/mol), while fluoride-La3+-exchanged zeolite interaction proceeded by physical adsorption (E = 7.41-7.72 kJ/mol). Factors from the solution chemistry that affected fluoride removal from water were the solution pH and bicarbonate content. The latter factor buffered the system pH at higher values and thus diminished the affinity of the active sites for fluoride. Natural groundwater samples from two Kenyan tube wells were tested and results are discussed in relation to solution chemistry. In overall, Al3+-exchanged zeolite was found to be superior to La3+-exchanged zeolite in fluoride uptake within the tested concentration range.     

The Physiology of Postharvest Tea (Camellia sinensis) Leaves,According to Metabolic Phenotypes and Gene Expression Analysis

Proper postharvest storage preserves horticultural products, including tea, until they can be processed. However, few studies have focused on the physiology of ripening and senescence during postharvest storage, which affects the flavor and quality of tea. In this study, physiological and biochemical indexes of the leaves of tea cultivar ‘Yinghong 9′ preserved at a low temperature and high relative humidity (15–18 °C and 85–95%, PTL) were compared to those of leaves stored at ambient conditions (24 ± 2 °C and relative humidity of 65% ± 5%, UTL). Water content, chromatism, chlorophyll fluorescence, and key metabolites (caffeine, theanine, and catechins) were analyzed over a period of 24 h, and volatilized compounds were determined after 24 h. In addition, the expression of key biosynthesis genes for catechin, caffeine, theanine, and terpene were quantified. The results showed that water content, chromatism, and chlorophyll fluorescence of preserved leaves were more similar to fresh tea leaves than unpreserved tea leaves. After 24 h, the content of aroma volatiles and caffeine significantly increased, while theanine decreased in both groups. Multiple catechin monomers showed distinct changes within 24 h, and EGCG was significantly higher in preserved tea. The expression levels of CsFAS and CsTSI were consistent with the content of farnesene and theanine, respectively, but TCS1 and TCS2 expression did not correlate with caffeine content. Principal component analysis considered results from multiple indexes and suggested that the freshness of PTL was superior to that of UTL. Taken together, preservation conditions in postharvest storage caused a series of physiological and metabolic variations of tea leaves, which were different from those of unpreserved tea leaves. Comprehensive evaluation showed that the preservation conditions used in this study were effective at maintaining the freshness of tea leaves for 2–6 h. This study illustrates the metabolic changes that occur in postharvest tea leaves, which will provide a foundation for improvements to postharvest practices for tea leaves.     

Effects of airborne fluoride on soil and vegetation

The study was initiated by the sudden uncontrolled release of airborne fluorides in 2005 into the environment from aluminium smelter factory that caused damage of vegetation. Samples of corn leaves and corn male flower heads with visible symptoms of fluoride intoxication had been collected in autumn 2005. Increased contents of total fluoride, which exceeded the maximum allowable content of fluorine in feeding stuffs, including meadow grass, were detected. During continuation of the study some commercially available herbal teas and plants used for preparing herbal teas infusions, collected in the field in 2010, were investigated to investigate possible uptake of fluoride from the soil. Nettle (Urtica dioica) has been found to be a promising passive bioindicator for monitoring phytotoxic effects of fluoride in the soil on the vegetation. Good correlation between labile free fluoride in the soil and total fluoride in the nettle has been found, while total fluoride in the soil, soil pH and the dominant wind direction were also proven as important factors influencing the uptake of fluoride by the nettle.     

宜昌茶叶的氟含量及氟浸出率的测定

利用氟离子选择电极,测定了湖北宜昌几种茶叶中的氟含量及氟的浸出率。结果表明,这几种茶叶氟含量在46．8—357．1μg／g之间,茶叶氟的浸出率在72．9％-80．1％之间,宜昌茶叶可作为一种安全的氟来源。     

Hydrogen bonding: Part 18. The nature of the OHF hydrogen bond in choline fluoride

The infrared spectrum of the OHF hydrogen bond in choline fluoride is completely different from the spectra of the electrostatic O—H?X hydrogen bonds in the other choline halides; however, this spectrum cannot be accounted for in terms of a “very strong” covalent OHF bond such as those found in carboxylic acid—fluoride ion complexes or postulated for betaine hydrofluoride. The spectrum of choline fluoride is interpreted best in terms of an intermediate type of unsymmetrical hydrogen bond (r° O?F = ～ 256 pm) which shows strong intensity enhancement for the first overtone of the OHF bending vibration.     

Gibberellin Increases the Bud Yield and Theanine Accumulation in Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the most important cash crops in the world. Theanine, as an important amino acid component in tea, is a key quality index for excellent tea quality and high economic value. People increase theanine accumulation in tea mainly through the application of nitrogen fertilizer, shading and pruning. However, these methods are not effective. In this study, we treated tea buds with a 100 μM solution of GA₃ containing 1‰ tween-20, investigated the effects of GA₃ on theanine accumulation, bud yield, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters and expression level of theanine biosynthesis pathway genes in tea plant by qPCR, LC-MS/MS etc. Results showed that change trends of theanine and GA₃ was extremely positively correlated with each other. Exogenous GA₃ upregulated the expression level of theanine biosynthesis pathway genes, caused an increase of theanine content (mg·g^-1) by 27% in tea leaves compared with Mock, and accelerated the germination of buds and elongation of shoots, which lead to a significant increase of tea yield by 56% (w/w). Moreover, the decrease of chlorophyll contents, photochemical quenching coefficient (qP) and relative electron transport rate (rETR) under GA₃ treatment suggested that GA₃ reduced photosynthesis in the tender tea leaves, indicating that the decline of carbon assimilation in tea plants was conducive to the nitrogen metabolism, and it was beneficial to the accumulation of theanine. This study provided a new technical and theoretical support for the precise control of tea quality components and phenophase.     

Determination of Total and Fluoride Bound Aluminium in Tea Infusions by Ion Selective Electrode and Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

ABSTRACT

Speciation of metallic compunds is important especially for their bioavailability. In this present study fluoride bound aluminium species were determined in tea infusion. Total aluminium was measured using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). Free fluoride and total fluoride were measured by fluoride selective ion electrode (FISE) with the assistance of TISAB buffer solution used for adjustment of pH and total ionic strength, and ALCOA buffer solution which decomposes all of the Al-fluoride complexes in solution.

During the studies, the effects of pH and time on the formation of Al-F complexes and interference of some metal ions found in tea infusion such as Al³⁺, Mg²⁺, Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺ and Mn²⁺ on the concentration of free fluoride were investigated. The concentration of each Al-fluoride complexes in tea fusion were determined indirectly by calculation using pF-Mole Fraction Diagram. It was found that 1.13±0.15 mg 1^? of 12.00±0.86 mg 1^? total aluminium is fluoride bound aluminium, which means that appoximately 10% of total aluminium in tea infusion is complexed with fluoride.     

Mechanochemical synthesis,structure and properties of lead containing alkaline earth metal fluoride solid solutions MxPb1-xF2 (M = Ca,Sr, Ba)

The paper deals with the mechanochemical synthesis of lead containing alkaline earth metal fluoride solid solutions M_xPb_1-xF₂ (M = Ca, Sr, Ba) by high-energy ball milling. Several metal precursors and fluorinating agents were tested for synthesizing M_0.5Pb_0.5F₂. Metal acetates and ammonium fluoride as precursors show the most promising results and were therefore used for the formation of M_xPb_1-xF₂ with different metal cationic ratios. The characterization of the local fluorine coordination and the crystal structure was performed by ¹⁹F MAS NMR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Additional calculations of ¹⁹F chemical shifts using the superposition model allow a deeper insight into the local structure of the compounds. The fluoride ion conductivity was followed by temperature dependent DC conductivity measurements. Significantly higher conductivities were found in comparison with those of the corresponding binary fluorides. The highest values were observed for samples with high lead content M_0.25Pb_0.75F₂, bearing in mind the much higher conductivity of PbF₂ compared to MF₂.     

Devitrification of Fluoroindate Glasses

Most fluoride glasses are likely to devitrify when heated for some time between the glass transition and melting temperatures. The crystallization kinetics of some fluoroindate glasses were studied by isothermal and non-isothermal methods using differential scanning calorimetry. The heating rate α varied between 1 and 10 K min^?1. The value of Avrami’s exponent n lay between 1 and 2.5, corresponding to a diffusion-controlled growth of crystals. The apparent activation energy for crystallization, E, varied from 45 to 50 kcal mol^?1. These values of n and E are low by comparison with those of other fluoride glasses, which suggests high stability against devitrification.     

A Journey towards Salivary Fluoride Level Detection by Suitable Low Cost Chemosensor: From Molecule to Product

Fluoride is a ubiquitous anion and essential for us owing to its ability to protect human body from several health related issues. The safe limit of Fluoride ion for human body is 1.5 ppm, above it the ion becomes toxic and can cause dental‐skeletal fluorosis or urolithiasis. Several countries are facing such health hazard owing to the naturally abundant excess fluoride in ground water. As a consequence, habitants of such fluoride enriched zone needs to monitor the concentration of fluoride in their body by periodic analysis. In this regard, development of a chemosensor which can detect fluoride from human body fluid at easy‐instant‐economic way is an obvious mandate. For the first time, our group has developed a sensor kit and sensor station device as a deliverable product for individual and batch scale detection of salivary fluoride level by colorimetric method. The sensor station is the first device made by interfacing chemical output with electronics and the encrypted signal in digital version could be used as a level of fluoride in saliva. Our journey towards the development of suitable chemosensor for recognition of fluoride from human body fluid is summarized in this account.     

Fluoride Electrode-Coupled Minicomputer for Determination of Fluoride in Human Hair

This article presents a method of measuring the degree of fluorosis in people who work in a fluoride-polluted environment by the determination of fluoride in human hair. The oxygen flask method of decomposing and the addition of auxiliary combustible adhesive paper to the filter paper wrapping the hair sample before ignition, in combination with Gran′s multiple addition of fluoride electrode coupled minicomputer are recommended. This method is simple, rapid, and sensitive and hair samples are easy to obtain. It is the same for the results of the analysis of the degrees of fluorosis of workers who work in a fluoride-polluted environment.     

Identification of Key Aroma Compounds Responsible for the Floral Ascents of Green and Black Teas from Different Tea Cultivars

Chemicals underlying the floral aroma of dry teas needs multi-dimensional investigations. Green, black, and freeze-dried tea samples were produced from five tea cultivars, and only ‘Chunyu2’ and ‘Jinguanyin’ dry teas had floral scents. ‘Chunyu2’ green tea contained the highest content of total volatiles (134.75 μg/g) among green tea samples, while ‘Jinguanyin’ black tea contained the highest content of total volatiles (1908.05 μg/g) among black tea samples. The principal component analysis study showed that ‘Chunyu2’ and ‘Jinguanyin’ green teas and ‘Chunyu2’ black tea were characterized by the abundant presence of certain alcohols with floral aroma, while ‘Jinguanyin’ black tea was discriminated due to the high levels of certain alcohols, esters, and aldehydes. A total of 27 shared volatiles were present in different tea samples, and the contents of 7 floral odorants in dry teas had correlations with those in fresh tea leaves (p < 0.05). Thus, the tea cultivar is crucial to the floral scent of dry tea, and these seven volatiles could be promising breeding indices.     

Determination of the fluoride distribution in rabbit bone using instrumental neutron activation analysis

An instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) technique, based on the¹⁹F(n,)²⁰F reaction, has been development for the determination of fluoride in bone. The purpose was to study fluoride distribution in different kinds of bone samples using a rabbit model. The rationale for the study stems from the posible correlation between fluoride in bone and osteoporosis. The sodium concentration in the bone was used to correct the²⁰F peak area for the²³F(n,)²⁰F contribution. Two secondary standards, teflon tape and teflon coated dacron line, were used to quantify fluoride concentration. They proved to be stable and consistent with respect to their fluoride concentration. Bone specimens from 10 sites and two tooth samples were analyzed for fluoride. Fluoride concentration ranged from 305 ppm in the tibia long bone to 585 ppm in the humerus trochanter end and the magnitude of fluoride concentration levels is age depdentent. The detection limit of the fluoride is approximately 5 ppm using a 100 mg bone sample.     

Evaluation of the chronic intoxication of fluoride on human serum metabolome using untargeted metabolomics

Drinking water is the main source of fluoride intake for the human body and its regulated consumption helps in decreasing dental caries. However, excessive fluoride consumption over a prolonged time period causes fluorosis disease which adversely affects many tissues and organs of the body. This paper describes the evaluation of chronic intoxication of fluoride on human serum metabolome. The untargeted metabolomics approach using UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS is applied for metabolomic profiling, whereas the estimation of fluoride in serum samples was carried out using the ion-selective electrode (ISE). Fluoride concentration was found to be 0.16–1.25 mg/L in serum samples of 39 fluorosis patients and 0.008–0.045 mg/L in 20 healthy samples. A total of 47 metabolites were identified based on the high-resolution mass spectrometry analysis. A volcano plot was generated to discriminate features that are significantly different between the fluorosis and healthy groups at the probability of 0.05 and fold change ≥ 2. Among all identified metabolites, intensities of ten differential identified metabolites including inosine, α-linolenic acid, guanosine, octanoyl-L-carnitine, His-Trp, phytosphingosine, lauroyl-L-carnitine, hydrocortisone, deoxyinosine and dodecanedioic acid have been found altered in disease samples compared to healthy controls. Major pathways identified based on these metabolites include energy metabolism, fatty acid oxidation, purine degradation pathway, elevated protein degradation, and increased ω-6 fatty acid linoleate signatures were observed.     

Measurements of fluoride in bone biopsies by neutron activation analysis for the clinical study of osteoporosis

A procedure has been developed to measure fluoride concentration in bone biopsies by neutron activation analysis /NAA/. The NAA procedure is non-destructive so that the bone biopsies can be used subsequently for histological evaluation. The fluoride content is expressed as F/Ca ratio in the bone samples. The fluoride and calcium are measured using the reactions:¹⁹F/n, /²⁰F /t=11.2 s/ and⁴⁸Ca/n,/⁴⁹Ca/t=8.8 m/, respectively. The F/Ca ratio normalizes the fluoride to bone mineral avoiding the use of bone weight which is unreliable with fresh biopsy samples. This ratio also corrects for variations in neutron flux and gamma counting efficiencies. Results by this procedure were compared to biochemical determinations using an ion-selective electrode for fluoride and atomic absorption for calcium. The two methods gave results which agreed within ±5% which is the precision of the NNA procedure. The NAA method provides a simple and non-destructive procedure for fluoride measurement in bone biopsies for clinical studies. The method is now routinely used in our clinical studies for the fluoride measurements on biopsies from osteoporotic patients treated with fluoride therapy for nearly four years.     

Substoichiometric precipitation of fluoride with lanthanum

The substoichiometric precipitation of fluoride with lanthanum was studied by using¹⁸F and¹⁴⁰La tracers and it was found that fluoride could be precipitated substoichiometrically with lanthanum and the reaction ratio between fluoride and lanthanum was 3∶1. The pH range at which fluoride can be separated substoichiometrically with lanthanum is between 2 and 8. Barium and indium interfere in the precipitation of fluoride, sodium, copper and manganese, however, not. Fluorosilicate can also be precipitated substoichiometrically by using lanthanum as a precipitant and the reaction ratio between fluorosilicate and lanthanum was 1∶2. This separation was applied for the determination of oxygen in silicon crystals. The concentration of oxygen measured in some silicon crystals was between 5 and 27 ppm and in good agreement with those by non-destructive method and infrared spectrophotometry.