Assessment of fluoride intake from groundwater and intake reduction from delivering bottled water in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand

Abstract

Fluoride intake from tap water supplied by fluoride-containing groundwater has been the primary cause of fluorosis among the residents of Buak Khang Subdistrict, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. To reduce fluoride intake, bottled water treated using reverse-osmosis membranes has been made available by community-owned water treatment plants. This study aimed to assess the resultant reduction in fluoride intake from using bottled water for drinking and cooking. Water consumption surveys were conducted by providing bottled water to 183 individuals from 35 randomly selected households and recording the amount of water consumed for drinking and cooking. The mean drinking water consumption was 1.62–1.88 L/capita/day and the cooking water consumption on weekends (5.06 ± 3.04 L/household/day) was higher than that on weekdays (3.80 ± 1.90 L/household/day). The per capita drinking water consumption exhibited a positive correlation with body weight; however, the low-weight subjects consumed more drinking water per kilogram of body weight than the heavy subjects. Although sex and day of the week did not significantly affect drinking water consumption per capita, girls consumed less water in school possibly due to their group mentality. Drinking water consumption per kilogram of body weight was significantly higher among women, children, and the elderly because these groups generally have low body weights. The fluoride intake from using tap water for drinking and cooking was estimated to be 0.18 ± 0.10 mg/kg-body weight/day and 5.55 ± 3.52 mg/capita/day, respectively, whereas using bottled water for drinking and cooking reduced the fluoride intake to 0.002 ± 0.002 mg/kg-body weight/day and 0.07 ± 0.05 mg/capita/day, respectively. Despite the increased cost, 98% and 90% of the subjects selected bottled water over tap water for drinking and cooking, respectively; thus, bottled water delivery services could be used to mitigate fluoride intake in developing countries.

Identifying indoor radon sources in Pa Miang, Chiang Mai, Thailand

“…For the total annual water intake, we used the maximum value (2 L day −1 or 730 L year −1 ) taken from the study of Sawangjang et at. 33 to calculate the ingestion ED according to Eq. (4).…”

Spatial distribution and potential health risk of fluoride in drinking groundwater sources of Huaibei, Anhui Province

“…Many studies show that the value of risk through skin contact is very small and can be ignored relative to drinking water intake 1 , 13 . Since drinking water is the main risk source of fluoride to human bodies 11 , only drinking water intake is considered in this study. Fluoride is a non-carcinogenic risk factor, the health risk assessment of fluoride content in groundwater in the study area is carried out by using the non-carcinogenic risk assessment risk model.…”

“…Long-term drinking of high fluoride water can cause maladjustment of calcium and phosphorus metabolism in human body, resulting in calcium deficiency and fluorosis 10 . Fluorosis can also make pregnant women postpartum paralysis 11 . Acute fluorosis can cause serious corrosion of stomach and degeneration of liver and kidney cells, fertility reduction including miscarriage, birth abnormalities and cancer in lungs, bone, bladder and uterus 10 , 12 , 13 .…”

Knowledge Level and Consumption Behavior of Native Plants, Meats, and Drinking Waters with High Fluoride Concentrations about the Relation to the Potential Health Risk of Fluoride in Lamphun Province Thailand: A Case Study

“…Because of its location in the Chiang Mai Basin, which comprise Chiang Mai, Lamphun, and Mae Hong Son, the Ma Khuea Chae subd which is located between 18.573821° latitude and 99.134547° longitude that is exposed to fluoride [13][14][15][16]. For many years, this population fluorosis caused by drinking fluoride-contaminated groundwater.…”