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The
University
of
New
Mexico
Bulletin
w
A
STUDY OF
THE
OCCURENCE
OF FLUORINE
IN
THE
DRINKING
WATER
OF
NEW
MEXICO
and
THE
MENACE
OF
FLUORINE TO
HEALTH
b?j
JOHN
X).
CLARK
AND
EDWARD
.
MANN
UNIVER~ITY
F
NEW
MEXICO
THE
UNIVERSITY
OF
NEW
MEXICO
BULLETIN
Whole Number
320
August
1,
1988
Cinemistry Series, Volunle
2,
No.
5
Published
monthly
in
January, March,
May,
JuB. September, and November,
and
semi-monthly in February.
April.
June, August, October,
and
Decemberby the University of New Mexico, AIbuquerque, New Mexico
Entered
as Second
Clam
Matter,
May
1.
1906,
at thepostoffice
at
Albuquerque.New Mexico, under Act of Congress
of
July
16,
1894
 
FLOURINE IN DRINKING WATERThat fluorides had toxic properties was discoveredwhen two chemists,Thenard and Davy became seriouslyill from breathing the vapors of hydrofluoric acid whileattempting to prepare fluorine in a pure state. Louyet andNickles later lost their lives from the inhalation of hydrogenfluoride. Soon after the toxic properties of fluorine werewell established, concern arose as to the probable toxicityof fluorine contaminated drinking waters and foodstuffs inwhich the fluorine may occur naturally or in which it mighthave been used as
a
preservative.Black and McKay
(1)
were the first to describe mottledenamel in the United States when they found it in certainItalian immigrants. Although their findings seemed topoint toward a local water supply as being responsible, itwas not until
1931
that it was found to be due to fluorine inthe water. Proof of this consisted of the facts that waterwhich was suspected of caursing mottled enamel in the teethof humans also caused it in rats, and that the feeding offlu'orides to other rats brought about the same condition.Chemical analyses of waters used by those having defec-tive teeth, and waters not associated with the defect gaveadded proof to the assumption that fluorine was the causalfactor, as the waters associated with mottling containedhigh concentrations of fluorine and those waters not soassociated showed low concentrations. Churchill(2)addedfurther evidence by analysing waters from several partsof the United States, finding high fluorine contents of thewaters in all regions in which mottling is endemic.Mottled enamel is perhaps most prevalent in the aridstates of the Southwest, although it has been reported in
at
least one section in twenty-seven states in the United States,and in every country in the world. The following map, astaken from
H.
V. and Margaret C. Smith
(3),
and extendedby the use of data kindly furnished by them, shows these
[
3
1
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