Effect of Fluorides on Some Organic Constituents of Blood and Physical Measurements of Bone

The effects of excessive amounts of fluorine on the animal organism have attracted the attention of a large number of investigators recently. This interest in fluorine is associated with the fact that mottled enamel has been correlated with the presence of excessive amounts of fluorides in drinking water and, furthermore, by the fact that certain phosphatic mineral supplements are known to contain fluorine. The authors have been interested in the fluorine problem, since the discovery by Ostrem, Nelson, Greenwood, and Wilhelm (1) of mottled enamel in Iowa, due to the presence of excessive fluorides in the drinking waters in certain localities in this state. Since Iowa is such an important livestock state, the fluorine problem becomes of added interest because of the possible use of mineral supplements containing fluorine, both as feed and fertilizer. Some work from this laboratory has been reported on the relation of fluorides to blood and respiration, and studies have also been made on the removal of fluorine from drinking water