Prevalence And Manifestations Of Water-Born Fluorosis Among Schoolchildren In Kaiwara Village Of India: A Preliminary Study By Arjunan Isaaca , Pruthvish Srikantaiaha , Wilma Delphine Silvia CR , Shivaraj Nallur Somanna , Vijaya Mysorekar , Kochupillai Narayana

Fluorosis is a systemic disorder caused by excessive ingestion of fluoride. Globally, fluorosis is water-born in 25 countries. India lies in a geographical fluoride belt, which extends from Turkey to China and Japan through Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. Of the 85 million tons of fluoride estimated in the earth’s crust, nearly 12 million tons are in India. Consequently, fluorosis is an endemic condition prevalent in 19 Indian states and union territories . Thus, 66 million people in India are at risk of developing fluorosis, including six million children below the age of 14 years. Approximately 25 million  people are already affected by fluorosis. Belgaum,  Raichur, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Chitradurga, Tumkur, Chikmagalur, Mandya, Bangalore-rural, Mysore,  Mangalore, Shimoga, and Kolar are the endemic districts for fluorosis in Karnataka state, India. Fluorides are compounds of fluorine. Fluorine is the 13th most abundant element in the earth crust. As surface water passes through the fluoride rich rocks, it carries fluoride with it. Hence, most fluoride is found in ground water and not in surface water. There has been a shift from the use of surface water to ground water for drinking purposes (bore wells) in this region over the past 10 to 15 years as a protective measure against water borne infections. The prevalence of fluoride-related problems is now one of these results.

Link : http://imsear.hellis.org/bitstream/123456789/130012/1/abm2009v3n5p563.pdf