Journal article

The Fluoride Content of Antlers as an Indicator of Fluoride Exposure in Red Deer (Cervus elaphus): A Historical Biomonitoring Study


Authors listKierdorf, U; Kierdorf, H

Publication year2000

Pages121-127

JournalArchives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology

Volume number38

Issue number1

DOI Linkhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s002449910015

PublisherSpringer


Abstract

Bone fluoride concentrations were analyzed in 141 red deer antlers grown
between the 17th/early 18th century and 1997, that originated from four
study areas (Arnsberg, Bad Berleburg, Dämmerwald, Schmidtheim) in the
federal state of North Rhine–Westphalia, Germany. Fluoride
concentrations in the specimens ranged between 27.7 and 1,392.1 mg F/kg
ash and varied significantly both between samples collected during
different time-spans in the same area and between samples taken from
different study areas over the same period. For antlers (n = 8)
collected prior to 1860 in the study areas Arnsberg and Schmidtheim,
values between 27.7 and 78.7 mg F/kg ash were recorded. It
is assumed that antler fluoride contents in this range are quite close
to baseline levels for these regions, i.e.,
represent concentrations largely unaffected or only slightly influenced
by fluoride from anthropogenic sources. With the onset and expansion of
large-scale industrial activities, bone fluoride concentrations in the
antler samples markedly increased over these baseline values, indicating
fluoride deposition from industrial emissions into the red deer
habitats. In the later 1980s and the 1990s, a pronounced decline in
antler fluoride content was observed, which is attributed to the
reduction of industrial fluoride discharges due to effective emission
control programs. However, even the lowest fluoride values recorded for
antlers grown in the 1990s (study area Schmidtheim, n = 10, range
158.5–367.3 mg F/kg ash) clearly exceeded the concentrations
found in the antlers collected prior to 1860, thereby indicating an
additional fluoride burden from anthropogenic sources on the recent
populations. The present study has corroborated the view that antlers
are good indicators of fluoride exposure in deer. The facts that they
grow during a seasonally fixed time-span and thus constitute relatively
well “naturally standardized” samples and are often kept over long
periods of time make antlers suitable monitoring units for historical
biomonitoring studies.




Citation Styles

Harvard Citation styleKierdorf, U. and Kierdorf, H. (2000) The Fluoride Content of Antlers as an Indicator of Fluoride Exposure in Red Deer (Cervus elaphus): A Historical Biomonitoring Study, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 38(1), pp. 121-127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002449910015

APA Citation styleKierdorf, U., & Kierdorf, H. (2000). The Fluoride Content of Antlers as an Indicator of Fluoride Exposure in Red Deer (Cervus elaphus): A Historical Biomonitoring Study. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. 38(1), 121-127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002449910015


Last updated on 2025-21-05 at 15:25