ASSESSMENT OF FERTILITY AND INFERTILITY IN BORON-EXPOSED TURKISH SUBPOPULATIONS 6: RELEVANT DATA FROM ALL CENTERS

In this last article, part of a large-scale work to reveal health effects of boron exposure, findings of fertility-infertility states of subjects exposed to borates environmentally and/or occupationally in a country with the world’s largest deposits are described. The study covered all centers of borate production, namely, Bigadiç county of Balıkesir; Kestelek village of Mustafa Kemal Paşa county, Bursa; Emet and Hisarcık counties of Kütahya, and Kırka town, Seyidgazi of Eskişehir, an area nearly 350 km long and 150 km wide. Drinking water piped out from springs and wells has boron concentrations 0.2 to 29 ppm (mgB/kg or mgB/l). Dust amount at work-sites was below permissible level of 10 mg/m3. The work, questionnaire-based, was realized in field as an observational one. Residents were visited at home and coffee houses in villages and public buildings in towns, and workers at facilities and ore pits without an