Importance of Contaminated Soils in Supplying Bioaccessible Fluoride to Grazing Animals From the Historic Metalliferous Mining Areas of the UK

Abstract

Soil-plant-animal and soil-animal pathways are the principal routes through which trace element e.g fluorine (F) enters the animal body systems. It is believed that soils and herbage contaminated with such trace elements may, eventually, reflect in the bones and other animal tissues. However, the correlationship between soil F and Bone F among grazing animals has not been substantially, established. This study aimed at investigating the association between F concentration in soil to those found in the bones of sheep and cattle reared in metalliferous mining areas of the United Kingdom. The study area included Derbyshire, a site of fluorite (CaF 2) mineralization; Ceredigion and Mendips, sites of mostly galena (PbS) mineralization, the latter two sites used as control sites for this study. The analytical approach involved alkali fusion, perchloric acid digestion and sequential extraction procedures in determining total soil F, total bone F and soil bioavailable F, respectively. The spectrophotometric technique was then used to determine soil F from solution extracts. The results showed mean total soil F concentrations of 302.3 mg/kg, 175.4 mg/kg and 70.8 mg/kg in Derbyshire, Mendips and Ceredigion respectively. The same order was observed for bone F with as high as 218.3 mg/kg, 118.1 mg/kg and 88.9 mg/kg found in Derbsyhire, Mendips and Ceredigion respectively. Analysis of Spearman rank coefficients established that there is a moderate association between soil bioavailable F and bone F (r s =0.571), significant at p < 0.1; a conclusion suggesting possible high risk from F on animals grazing within heavily contaminated areas affected by historical F mining.

Proximity Density Assessment and Characterization of Water and Sanitation Facilities in the Informal Settlements of Kisumu City: Implications for Public Health Planning

“…This is particularly important as there is a close association between sanitation management and water quality [8,9] and hygiene [10,11]. Poor water quality or pollution of water sources may be due to bacterial or chemical seepage from pit latrines, and may also result from broken septic tanks, irrigation, and run-off water carrying agro-chemicals [12][13][14][15][16]. Notably, the spread of many infectious diseases, including cholera and typhoid, has been associated with human excreta and lack of adequate hygiene [17][18][19].…”