Fluoride, consumed in its varying forms, undergoes hydrolysis in the stomach which frees fluorine anions (F-), completely releasing them from their parent compound (Turney, et al., 2011). The fluorine anion is referred to as fluoride, the molecule of focus in this toxicological report. Fluoride readily crosses cell membranes by means of a pH gradient in which its negative charge becomes attracted to the free hydrogen cations found in acidic environments. This gradient and binding of fluoride with hydrogen forms hydrogen fluoride (HF), a highly lipophilic compound that is readily able to enter and circulate through the blood stream while maintaining its ability to move between adjacent body compartments; making it a potentially systemic toxicant.
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Teeth and bone have a natural affinity for fluoride, thus making it a desirable replacement for the hydroxyl group in the hydroxyapatite crystals. To a certain extent, bone deposition represents a form of detoxification by decreasing other [soft] tissues’ exposure to fluoride. The rate of fluoride deposition into skeletal tissues is related to the rate of bone mineral turnover. Growing children tend to have a greater rate of fluoride deposition than a fully grown adult (Raisbeck, et al., 2008). Areas of calcification or active ossification are where fluoride deposition mostly occurs, acting as delivery sites. Blood vessels surrounding these sites permit the diffusion of the compound across their membranes where they are then able to adhere to the delivery sites and replace the hydroxyapatite crystal sites with fluorapatite. Fluoride that does not bind to delivery sites remains in the vascular system, minimally leaving deposits in various areas of the body (but not in concentrations worthy of concern), until it makes way to the renal system for
Teeth and bone have a natural affinity for fluoride, thus making it a desirable replacement for the hydroxyl group in the hydroxyapatite crystals. To a certain extent, bone deposition represents a form of detoxification by decreasing other [soft] tissues’ exposure to fluoride. The rate of fluoride deposition into skeletal tissues is related to the rate of bone mineral turnover. Growing children tend to have a greater rate of fluoride deposition than a fully grown adult (Raisbeck, et al., 2008). Areas of calcification or active ossification are where fluoride deposition mostly occurs, acting as delivery sites. Blood vessels surrounding these sites permit the diffusion of the compound across their membranes where they are then able to adhere to the delivery sites and replace the hydroxyapatite crystal sites with fluorapatite. Fluoride that does not bind to delivery sites remains in the vascular system, minimally leaving deposits in various areas of the body (but not in concentrations worthy of concern), until it makes way to the renal system for