Guissouma Wiem, Hakami Othman, Al-Rajab Abdul Jabbar, Tarhouni Jamila
Rural Engineering Department, National School of Agronomy of Tunis, University of Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia; National Agency of the Sanitary and Environmental Control of Products (ANCSEP), Tunis, Tunisia.
Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
Chemosphere. 2017 Jun;177:102-108. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.03.011. Epub 2017 Mar 3.
The presence of fluoride in drinking water is known to reduce dental cavities among consumers, but an excessive intake of this anion might leads to dental and skeletal fluorosis. This study reports a complete survey of the fluoridated tap water taken from 100 water consumption points in Tunisia. The fluoride concentrations in tap water were between 0 and 2.4 mg L. Risk assessment of Fluoride exposure was assessed depending on the age of consumers using a four-step method: hazard identification, toxicity reference values selection (TRVs), daily exposure assessment, and risk characterization. Our findings suggest that approximately 75% of the Tunisian population is at risk for dental decay, 25% have a potential dental fluorosis risk, and 20% might have a skeletal fluorosis risk according to the limits of fluoride in drinking water recommended by WHO. More investigations are recommended to assess the exposure risk of fluoride in other sources of drinking water such as bottled water.
众所周知，饮用水中存在氟化物可减少消费者的龋齿，但过量摄入这种阴离子可能会导致牙齿和骨骼氟中毒。本研究报告了对从突尼斯100个用水点采集的氟化自来水的全面调查。自来水中的氟化物浓度在0至2.4毫克/升之间。根据消费者年龄，采用四步法评估氟化物暴露的风险：危害识别、毒性参考值选择（TRV）、每日暴露评估和风险特征描述。我们的研究结果表明，根据世界卫生组织推荐的饮用水中氟化物限量，约75%的突尼斯人口有患龋齿的风险，25%有潜在的牙齿氟中毒风险，20%可能有骨骼氟中毒风险。建议进行更多调查，以评估其他饮用水来源（如瓶装水）中氟化物的暴露风险。
