Journal article

Publication year: 1997

Pages: 222-227

Journal: Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology

Volume number: 32

Issue number: 2

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002449900179

Publisher: Springer

Abstract: 

Fluoride, calcium, and phosphorus content as well as ash
percentage and ash density of primary antlers and pedicle bones were studied
in nine yearling red deer stags from a fluoride polluted region in North
Bohemia (Czech Republic) and in nine control animals from two uncontaminated
areas in West Germany. Fluoride levels in antlers (845 ± 257 mg
F⁻/kg ash, mean ± SD) and pedicles (1,448 ± 461 mg
F⁻/kg ash) of the N-Bohemian specimens exceeded that of the
controls (antlers: 206 ± 124 mg F⁻/kg ash, pedicles:
322 ± 157 mg F⁻/kg ash) by factors of 4.1 and 4.5,
respectively. Antler and pedicle fluoride concentrations of the deer
(n = 18) were closely correlated (r = 0.975,
p < 0.001). Analyses of ash percentage and ash density revealed that the
antlers of the N-Bohemian deer contained significantly less mineral and were
significantly less dense than both their pedicles and the control antlers. In
the pooled antler samples (n = 18), bone fluoride concentration was
negatively correlated with ash density (r = −0.826, p < 0.001)
and ash percentage (r = −0.759, p < 0.001), whereas non
significant, positive correlations existed for the pooled pedicle samples.
Ash percentage and ash density of the antlers and their corresponding
pedicles were uncorrelated. It is concluded that increased fluoride exposure
of deer leads to reduced mineral content and mineral density of antler bone
and that it is the rapidity of their growth and mineralization that makes
antlers especially susceptible to fluoride action. Due to their ability to
accumulate high amounts of fluoride during a defined, limited timespan and
the apparently dose-dependent negative effect of fluoride on their density
and mineral content, (primary) antlers can be recommended as monitoring tools
for studying environmental pollution by fluorides.

Harvard Citation style: Kierdorf, U., Richards, A., Sedlacek, F. and Kierdorf, H. (1997) Fluoride Content and Mineralization of Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) Antlers and Pedicles from Fluoride Polluted and Uncontaminated Regions, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 32(2), pp. 222-227. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002449900179

APA Citation style: Kierdorf, U., Richards, A., Sedlacek, F., & Kierdorf, H. (1997). Fluoride Content and Mineralization of Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) Antlers and Pedicles from Fluoride Polluted and Uncontaminated Regions. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. 32(2), 222-227. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002449900179