Effects of water improvement on skeletal fluorosis in drinking-water-borne endemic fluorosis areas in Liaoning Province / 中华地方病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the prevalence of adult skeletal fluorosis in drinking-water-borne endemic fluorosis areas in Liaoning Province and to observe the effects of preventive measures.Methods Three water-changed villages were selected from six drinking-water-borne endemic fluorosis counties,Faku County,Liaoyang County,Haicheng City,Linghai City,Fu Mongolia County,and Jianping County.Totally 18 diseased villages were selected as the investigation sites.The operating condition of the improvement projects was investigated and the fluoride level of drinking water was tested.People over the age of 25 and living in the local for more than 5 years in each survey site were selected and divided into five groups according to age groups of 25-,35-,45-,55-,and ≥65 years old.Ten people in each age group were selected,half male and half female,to examine skeletal fluorosis by X-ray.Clinical symptoms and bone change,including sclerotin,bones,and joints changes were also examined.Results The water fluorine values of two villages were 1.32 and 1.69 mg/L,more than the national standard (1.2 mg/L),while other 16 villages were between 0.5-1.0 mg/L.X-ray images were analyzed for diagnosis of skeletal fluorosis in 905 adults,and 46 cases were diagnosed as skeletal fluorosis in the 18 monitored villages.Xray detection rate was 5.08％,of which the X-ray detection rate of adult fluorosis in water fluoride qualified monitoring villages was 4.11％ (33/803).The detection rate of adult skeletal fluorosis was 12.75％ (13/102) in water fluoride unqualified monitoring villages.There was a significant difference of the total detection rates between the two groups of monitored villages (x2 =13.99,P ＜ 0.05).Skeletal fluorosis was mainly happened in the age group over the age of 45,account for 89.13％ (41/46).Peri-bone changes were observed in the 46 cases of patients with skeletal fluorosis.Conclusions The condition of skeletal fluorosis has been effectively alleviated after implementing the improvement measures.Prevention and treatment can effectively control the occurrence of fluorosis.