KARACHI:
Around the world, fluoride contamination is a rising concern as it is harming human health and the environment. Fluoride is released into the environment through different activities such as the weathering and leaching of fluoride-bearing minerals, rocks, and atmospheric emissions from volcanoes and seawater. Human activities such as mining and processing phosphate rock and its use as agricultural fertiliser, and manufacturing processes that involve the combustion of fluoride-containing ores of metals contribute to the contamination. Pesticides that contain fluoride are also used in agriculture. Often fluoride is added to water in small quantities to purify drinking water. It is known as water fluoridation and is a major pollutant of groundwater.
The daily use of water mixed with fluoride has harmed human health and increased the incidence of fluorosis. Dental fluorosis is a cosmetic condition that affects the teeth and is common amongst children under the age of eight. Skeletal fluorosis results in bone or joint deformities and non-skeletal fluorosis leads to problems including gastrointestinal and neurological disorders.
In Pakistan, the fluoride concentration in groundwater sources varies significantly from the international and regional levels. Fluoride contamination is widespread and present in most districts of Sindh. Pakistani children are at a higher risk than adults of developing fluorosis due to high groundwater contamination. The high concentration of fluoride is alarming and will contribute to a health crisis across the country. Therefore, the relevant authorities must work on identifying the fluoride content in the water and alleviating it and reducing activities that release fluoride into the environment.
Intikhab Ulfat
Karachi
Published in The Express Tribune, June 21st, 2022.
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