Biomedical Research

Objectives: To investigate the main fluorine sources of Wumeng Mountain coal-burning contaminated area; to screen the factors that affect the prevalence of fluorotic teeth, and to provide theoretical support for the prevention and treatment of Fluorosis disease.

Methods: Questionnaire survey and laboratory tests are conducted for 1200 households from 8 endemic villages; environmental media, fluorine content in food, basic information of the respondents, lifestyle and dietary habits, cognitive level, stove rebuilding status are investigated.

Results: The laboratory tests reveal that the fluorine content in drinking water (0.15 ± 0.04 mg/L) and rice (0.27 ± 0.06 mg/kg) are lower than the national standard; however, the fluorine content in raw coal (115.07 ± 48.67 mg/kg), clay for coal blending (685.72 ± 261.54 mg/kg), corn (18.46 ± 6.08 mg/kg), and pepper (87.85 ± 36.14 mg/kg) are much higher than national standards. According to Logistic multifactor regression analysis, the main risk factors of the endemic area are: “cooking with coal” (OR=2.47995CI1.634~3.762) and “didn’t reconstruct the stove before age 12” (OR=1.58495CI1.135~2.210); main protective factors are: “high scores in cognitive level” (OR=0.548, 95CI: 0.422~0.711) and “don’t like pepper” (OR=0.583, 95CI: 0.475~0.717).

Conclusions: High fluorine coal and coal-blending clay are the main fluorine source of Wumeng Mountain coal-burning contaminated area. At this stage, the local government should enhance the promotion and education of fluorotic teeth and the stove reconstruction program, thus achieving better prevention effects.

Author(s): Jialing Li, Penghao Liang, Lige Zheng
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