Bioavailability of Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Human Experimental Study By A. Maguire , F.V. Zohouri, J.C. Mathers, I.N. Steen, P.N. Hindmarch, P.J. Moynihan

It has been suggested that systemic fluoride absorption from drinking water may be influenced by the type of fluoride compound in the water and by water hardness. Using a human double-blind cross-over trial, we conducted this study to measure cmax, Tmax, and Area Under the Curve (AUC) for plasma F concentration against time, following the ingestion of naturally fluoridated hard and soft waters, artificially fluoridated hard and soft waters, and a reference water. Mean AUC over 0 to 8 hours was 1330, 1440, 1679, 1566, and 1328 ng F.min.mL-1 for naturally fluoridated soft, naturally fluoridated hard, artificially fluoridated soft, artificially fluoridated hard, and reference waters, respectively, with no statistically significant differences among waters for AUC, C max, or T max. Any differences in fluoride bioavailability between drinking waters in which fluoride is present naturally or added artificially, or the waters are hard or soft, were small compared with large within- and between-subject variations in F absorption. Abbreviations used: F,  fluoride; AUC, Area under the Curve for plasma F concentration against time; AUC(0-3), Area under the Curve for plasma F concentration against time for 0 to 3 hours following water ingestion; AUC(0-8), Area under the Curve for plasma F concentration against time for 0 to 8 hours  following water ingestion; cmax, maximum plasma F concentration corrected for baseline plasma F and dose (i.e., F concentration of individual waters); T max, time of C max.