Review on Sources of Fluorine in the Environment and Health Risk Assessment

Abstract

BACKGROUND Fluorine is an essential trace element that exists in the natural environment, and its deficiency or excess in the environment can cause health problems. OBJECTIVES To summarize the research progress of sources of fluorine in the environment and to assess the risk to health. METHODS The sources of fluorine in the natural atmosphere, rocks, soils, water, and plants, were reviewed, and the factors affecting its form and content by the environment were analyzed, such as topography, rain leaching, soil parent material, soil pH, soil organic matter and geochemical behavior. RESULTS Fluorine has a wide range of sources. At present, more than 260 million people in the world have been affected by environmental problems caused by fluorine. Therefore, it is of great significance to carry out a health risk assessment. The common health risk assessment models of fluorine include Hazard Quotient and Hazard Index. Probabilistic methods are often used in risk analysis. At present, there are also applications of multi-channel exposure assessment methods to assess fluorine. The feasibility and limitations of traditional models were compared. CONCLUSIONS It is necessary to consider the uncertainty and sensitivity of the health risk assessment models, determine the fluorine enrichment pathway, improve the combined exposure assessment models, and consider the bioavailability of fluorine intake for health risk assessment of fluorine. The next step of research on health risk assessment of fluorine can use models to predict the risks of fluorine. It is still necessary to have a deep understanding of the source, occurrences, migration path and content influencing factors of fluorine to assess the health risks.

Keywords

• fluorine
• atmosphere
• rock
• soil
• water
• influencing factors
• health risk assessment