Skeletal Changes in Endemic Fluorosis

Endemic fluorosis is a chronic fluorine intoxication found in certain parts of the world where there is excessive fluorine in the water and soil. It affects the teeth and skeleton, and secondarily the nervous system (Siddiqui 1955; Jolly, Singh and Singh 1961; Singh, Jolly and Bansal 1961 ; Singh and Jolly 1961). The skeletal changes in experimental and industrial fluorosis are well recognised (Roholm 1937), but the skeletal changes in endemic fluorosis are not fully known outside India. We have recently had the unique opportunity of studying a complete fluorotic skeleton of an individual from an area of the Punjab, where the fluorine content of water is very high-up to fourteen parts per million. This paper will describe briefly the changes in the skeleton found at necropsy and the alterations in the relevant anthropometric measurements which accounted for the neurological complications. As far as we are aware, the latter have not been hitherto reported.