News About the Environment

Fluorosis is Endemic in Large Regions of China

The twenty-second conference of the International Society for Fluoride Research was held in Bellingham, Washington, August 24 to 27, 1998. Several papers describing environmental sources of fluoride were presented. Over 100 million Chinese are at risk for fluorosis. They live in areas where fluoride is naturally high in the ground water. Fluoride accumulates as people age. Forty-four million Chinese have dental fluorosis. A more serious form of fluorosis is skeletal fluorosis. About 2.7 million Chinese have skeletal fluorosis.

Over two million Chinese live in areas where arsenic is high in the ground water. This problem is increasing because of the need to dig deeper to find water. The deeper wells have more arsenic. The Fluoride and Arsenic Society of China was founded in 1966 by scientists. They will be hosting the Pan Asia Pacific Conference on Fluoride and Arsenic Research next year in Shenyang, China. For more information, contact: Prof. Sun Guifan, 92Beier Road, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, 110001, China, Tel. 86-24-23871744, Fax: 86-24-23871744, sungf@iris.cmu.edu.cn