Estimation of fluoride distribution in the mandible and teeth of the red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) from industrially polluted areas in Poland

Abstract

Animals from areas contaminated by industrial emissions containing fluoride may accumulate it predominantly in hard tissues. Therefore, an analysis was performed for the determination of fluoride content in mandibles and teeth of deer living at large in different areas in Western Pomerania (Poland). Samples of hard tissues obtained with a dental drill, were dissolved in perchloric acid and analyzed for fluoride content with an ion-selective electrode. Using the Generalized Regression Neural Network (GRNN), it was possible to arrange definite variables according to their order of importance concerning the fluoride mean content in investigated bone material. Parametric analysis revealed in which sites of mandibles and teeth the fluoride accumulation was the highest. In our calculation, the traditional statistic as well as artificial neural network was applied. One of the interesting properties of fluoride is its balancing accumulation in the hard and soft tissues. In this paper, we decided estimate how the changeable doses of fluoride in natural environment influence on fluoride distribution and accumulation in the examined sites of mandible and teeth. The material consist of 103 mandibles of red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) from five forestry districts of Western Pomerania in Poland, which are located near or far away from two major industrial plants: Police Chemical Work and the Dolna Odra Coal Power Plant. Samples (10 mg of powdered bone or tooth) were dissolved in perchloric acid and the fluoride content was determined with an ion-selective electrode. Comparisons were done with the Statistica 5.5 and Statistica Neural Networks. Animals living in Western Pomerania (Poland) have high fluoride contents in their bones. Fluoride accumulation in mandibles and teeth is irregular. The higher content of fluoride show incisal area, but coronoid process of the mandible was not sensitive to different exposure of environmental fluoride at all. Parametric analysis revealed that the accumulation pattern of fluorine was different in the two groups of deer. Many biological and environmental factors may influence on incessant fluoride accumulation in osseous tissue of ruminants living at large. The use of artificial neural networks enables a more accurate insight into the process of fluorine accumulation in the mandible and teeth and helps in the ranking of factors influencing this process.