Trans.Inst.Indian Geographers ISSN 0970-9851 An Impact Assessment of Fluoride Content on Human Being by the Ground Water in Bagalkot Taluk of Bagalkot District, Karnataka State S.S. Hangaragi, Bagalkot, Karnataka Abstract For investigating the impact of fluoride content on human being by drinking ground water in Bagalkot taluk of Bagalkot District is undertaken in 41 villages and 1 urban center. Samples are selected randomly and 44 samples are collected from bore-wells/ hand pumps through field visit to particular villages for assessing fluoride and other physicochemical parameters of the water and also to assessed the clinical symptoms like dental and skeletal fluorosis, joint pains and gastrointestinal diseases and to find out the severity of the disease. A check list developed with the help of available literature and in consolation with nutritionists was used to record clinical symptoms. After the examination of collected bore-well water and made the analysis as 26 samples were within the range, while 18 samples were above the permissible limits of WHO at Bagalkot taluk. Fluoride content varies from 0.40 to 6.85 mg/L in the study area. Further a sample survey was conducted to examine the Male and Female people age between 8 to 50 years at different villages and town of Bagalkot taluk. The researcher has personally observed and asked the questions to the peoples and also collected clinical results show that, out of the 697 examined people 109 (15.64%) people have dental and skeletal fluorosis, 82 (11.76%) people have joint pains, 155 (20.24%) have gastrointestinal discomfort and remaining 351 peoples (50.36%), of these 172 people (24.68%) have excessive thirst problems and lack of luster was the most common symptoms of dental fluorosis experienced at different stages in Bagalkot taluk of Bagalkot district of Karnataka State. It concluded that, it is essential that the villages affected by fluorosis be supplied with safe drinking water less than 1 mg/L fluoride, either by changing the water source to safer once or by adapting suitable treatment technique to remove fluoride in the existing sources. Keywords: Fluoride, Clinical symptoms, Dental and skeletal fluorosis, Gastrointestinal discomfort. Introduction subsurface water is one of the prime factors Water is an essential natural resource on which the suitability of water depends on for sustaining life and environment that particular usage like domestic, industrial and we have always thought to be available agriculture purpose. Fresh water occurs as in abundance and free gift of nature. surface water and ground water, out of this However chemical composition of surface or fresh water, groundwater contributes only Transactions | Vol. 38, No. 1, 2016 | 89 0.6% of the total water resources on earth. common element that does not occur in the It is major and preferred source of drinking elemental state in nature because of its high water in rural and urban areas particularly in reactivity. This is the 17th element in order of India. Water contaminated by many minerals abundance of element in earth’s crust found like calcium, magnesium and fluoride etc., as a complex fluoride. Fluoride is an ionic out of contaminated chemicals, fluoride state of fluorine (the 9th element of Periodic is essential in minute quantity for normal Table). Fluorine is most electronegative mineralization of bone, teeth (for formation element hence never found in nature as of dental enamel) and it stimulate the growth fluorine. Fluoride occurs in combined form of many plant species. But on other hand if of minerals as fluoride and represents 0.06 to fluoride content is excessive amount may 0.09% of the earth crust (Gupta S C:1993). prove toxic to plant, animal and human Fluorides frequently occurs in igneous as as fluorosis. Fluorosis is now world wide well as in metamorphic rocks, especially problem not only India. In the world scenario in alkali rocks, granite, basalt, shale, clays 20 countries like Argentina, U.S.A., Algeria, and calcium phosphate rocks are the main Libya, Turkey, Iran, China, Australia, south sources of fluoride. Table No:1 represents Africa, Kenya, Iraq, Srilanka, Canada, various minerals having fluoride with their Thailand, Newzealand, Japan, India, etc. But composition and the rocks in which they in the era of economical growth groundwater present. Minerals which have the greatest is getting polluted due to urbanization effect on the hydro-geochemistry of fluoride and industrialization. Presence of various are fluorite, apatite, mica, amphiboles, hazardous contaminants like fluoride, certain clays and villiamite. Fluoride occurs nitrate, sulfate and other heavy metals in almost all water from trace to high in underground water has been reported concentrations. Fluoride concentration in from different parts of India. It is well natural water depends on various factors established that India has two acute public such as temperature, pH, solubility of health problem induced by utilization of fluoride bearing minerals, anion exchange groundwater as a source of drinking water capacity of aquifer materials (OH for F) and having excess fluoride and arsenic, though nature of geological formation and contact the origin of these two hazardous elements time of water with particular formation. is attributed to geological reasons. Fluoride is among the substances for which In India fluoride is major inorganic there are both lower (0.6= mg/l) and upper pollutant which natural origin in groundwater. (1.2 mg/l) limits of concentration in drinking Fluoride concentration is an important water, with identified health effect and aspect of hydro geochemistry because of its benefits for human beings. impact on human health. Fluoride is a fairly 90 | Transactions | Vol. 38, No. 1, 2016 Table No.1: Various Minerals having Fluoride with their Chemical Composition in the Particular Rocks: As per WHO Standards. Sl.No. Mineral Chemical Composition Rocks 1 Fluorspar CaF2.3Ca3(PO4)2 Pegmatite Pneumatolitic deposits 2 Fluorite CaF2 Pegmatite Metamorphosed limestone 3 Lepidolite K2(Li,Al)5(Si6Al2)O20(OHF)4 Gabbros, Dolerites +2 4 Tremolite Actinolite Ca2(MgFe )5(Si8O22)(OHF)2 Clay +2 +3 5 Rock Phosphate NaCa2(MgFe )4(AlFe ) Limestone, Fossils (SiAl)8O22(OHF)2 Source: WHO Report: 2007. Fluoride in minute quantity is an essential of long bones and calcification of ligaments. component for normal mineralization of The symptoms include mild rheumatic/ bone, teeth and formation of dental enamel. arthritic pain in the joints and muscles to Very low doses of fluoride (<0.6 mg/lts) in severe pain in the cervical spine region along water promote tooth decay. However, when with stiffness and rigidity of the joints. consumed in higher doses (>1.5 mg/lts), it The disease may be present in an leads to dental fluorosis or mottled enamel individual at sub-clinical, chronic or acute and excessively high concentration (>3.0 levels of manifestation. Crippling skeletal mg/lts) of fluoride may lead to skeletal fluorosis can occur when the water supply fluorosis (WHO:1984). In general, fluoride contains more than 10 mg/lts of fluoride content in water between 2.0 and 2.5 mg/ (Carlson.C.H. et al). The severity of lts may lead to dental mottling, which is fluorosis depends on the concentration of characterized initially by opaque white fluoride in the drinking water, daily intake, patches on the teeth and in advanced stages continuity and duration of exposure and leads to dental fluorosis (teeth display brown climatic conditions. So it very necessary to to black staining) followed by pitting of understand the present contamination level, teeth surfaces. High manifestations of dental distribution and developing a methodology fluorosis are mostly found in children up to for safe drinking water source. The health the age of 12 years and skeletal fluorosis problems arising as a result of fluoride may occur when fluoride concentrations contamination are more wide spread in in drinking water exceed 2.50 mg/lts. The India. The problem of excessive fluoride in high fluoride concentration manifests as an ground water in India was first reported in increase in bone density leading to thickness 1937 in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Today Transactions | Vol. 38, No. 1, 2016 | 91 fluorosis is a major public health problem basalts cover major part and characterized in 18 out of 28 states of India. Nearly 177 by flat topography of basalts, undulating districts have been confirmed as fluoride topography of granitoids and low lying affected area, out of this the Bagalkot linear plateau of sedimentary rocks. district is in higher ranks. Recent studies The Bagalkot taluk generally comes show approximately 62 million People under semi-arid climate, it has large variation including 6 million children suffer from in the amount and distribution of rainfall and fluorosis because of consumption of water faces the droughts at least thrice in a decade. containing high concentration of fluoride The average rainfall over the last 100 years (www. APHA, New York). In Rajasthan in the district is 554.13 mm. The rivers flow the existence of fluoride was first detected from West to East direction indicating that in Jobner Village near Jaipur city in 1964, the taluk area is elevated in the western part later in the villages of Nagour has high and sloping towards the eastern direction. fluoride content in drinking water were The drainage area of the taluk is influenced observed in Bhilwara district and later on by south-west monsoon. The taluk has reported in Ajmer district in 1976. The population of 2,47,271 (2001 census). The dental mottling and skeletal manifestations total numbers of villages in the taluk are 96 such as crippling deformities, osteoporosis and 01 town. Out of the total geographical and osteosclerosis clinical symptoms of area of the district 76.22 percent of area dental and skeletal fluorosis are observed in is used for the agriculture in 1990-91 but Gadag and Bagalkot districts of Karnataka it decreases to 65.98 percent in 2000-01, is reported (Puspha Bharati et.al: 2005).