Fluoride Exposure through Different Drinking Water Sources in a Contaminated Basin in Guanajuato, Mexico: A Deterministic Human Health Risk Assessment

Paulina Farías, Jesús Alejandro Estevez-García, Erika Noelia Onofre-Pardo, María Luisa Pérez-Humara, Elodia Rojas-Lima, Urinda Álamo-Hernández and Diana Olivia Rocha-Amador
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Paulina Farías: Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Universidad No. 655, Colonia Santa María Ahuacatitlán, Cuernavaca 62100, Mexico
Jesús Alejandro Estevez-García: Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Universidad No. 655, Colonia Santa María Ahuacatitlán, Cuernavaca 62100, Mexico
Erika Noelia Onofre-Pardo: Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Universidad No. 655, Colonia Santa María Ahuacatitlán, Cuernavaca 62100, Mexico
María Luisa Pérez-Humara: Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Universidad No. 655, Colonia Santa María Ahuacatitlán, Cuernavaca 62100, Mexico
Elodia Rojas-Lima: Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Universidad No. 655, Colonia Santa María Ahuacatitlán, Cuernavaca 62100, Mexico
Urinda Álamo-Hernández: Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Universidad No. 655, Colonia Santa María Ahuacatitlán, Cuernavaca 62100, Mexico
Diana Olivia Rocha-Amador: Departamento de Farmacia, División de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Universidad de Guanajuato, Guanajuato 36050, Mexico

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 21, 1-16

Abstract: Water fluoride levels above the World Health Organization’s guideline (1.5 mg/L), common in overexploited aquifers, represent a health hazard. Our objective was to assess the health risks posed by exposure to fluoride in different drinking water sources in a contaminated basin in Mexico. Fluoride was measured in mutual drinking water sources and in the urine of 39 children and women. Risks were estimated through hazard quotient (HQ) by drinking water source. Dental fluorosis was assessed in the children. Mean fluoride water concentrations (mg/L) were: well, 4.2; waterhole, 2.7; bottled, 2.1; rainwater, 0.4. The mean urinary fluoride concentrations (specific gravity adjusted) were 2.1 mg/L and 3.2 mg/L in children and women, respectively. Our multiple linear regression model showed children’s urinary fluoride concentrations increased 0.96 mg/L for every 1 mg/L increase in water fluoride ( p < 0.001). Dental fluorosis was diagnosed in 82% of the children, and their HQ according to drinking water source was: well, 1.5; waterhole, 1.1; bottled, 0.8; harvested rainwater, 0.3. The pervasive dental fluorosis indicates a toxic past fluoride exposure; urinary fluoride levels and HQs indicate high exposure and current health risks for most children. Drinking harvested rainwater will likely prevent most of the local fluoride exposure.

Keywords: fluoride; fluorosis; geogenic; groundwater; aquifer; risk assessment; Guanajuato; Mexico (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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