Fluoride excretion of adults living in border regions with either water or salt fluoridation.

The canton of Basel-Stadt was the only canton in Switzerland which introduced drinking water fluoridation (DWF) at 1 ppm (mg/l). All other cantons have relied on fluoridated domestic salt at 250 ppm F as the main vehicle for basic fluoride exposure. It has been suggested that persons living and working in the DWF areas or persons commuting to the DWF areas may be exposed to higher than optimal doses of fluoride. The objective of this present study was to determine the urinary fluoride excretion of adults living and or working in neighboring areas of either salt or water fluoridation. In this study, 24-hour urine was collected from 69 healthy subjects and tested for fluoride concentration. The mean fluoride concentration for all participants was 0.55 +/- 0.25 ppm (mg/l) ranging from 1.14 to 0.09 ppm. The mean fluoride excretion was 0.95 +/- 0.47 mg F/d ranging from 0.18 to 2.12 mg F/d. The 33 subjects living in a DWF region showed a mean urine fluoride concentration of 0.64 +/- 0.24 ppm (mg/l) and a mean fluoride excretion of 1.14 +/- 0.48 mg F/d. Those 36 subjects living in a region without DWF showed a mean urine fluoride concentration of 0.47 +/- 0.24 ppm (mg/l) and a mean fluoride excretion of 0.78 +/- 0.40 mg F/d. A significant difference between the two means of the groups living in regions with or without DWF was detected when the Mann-Whitney statistical test was applied (p < 0.005). The combined intake of fluoridated drinking water and fluoridated table salt in the sub-group of 11 subjects who commuted showed an overall increase in fluoride urine concentration. The measured values, however, were not significantly different from the other sub-groups.