RESUMO
This study was conducted to analyze the impact of fluoride in the anthropogenic condition in an industrial region promoting and affecting the health of the workers. Fluoride is toxic to humans in high concentrations, such as can occur in persons working in fluoride-containing mineral industries like aluminum industries. When workers are exposed to fluoride-containing minerals, they can suffer from a variety of health problems, such as dental disease. This paper presents the relationship of different clinical conditions correlated against the fluoride level. Contributing clinical aspects, such as morbidity, dysentery, overcrowding, and skin disease, are also studied to assess the consequences of fluoride upon consistent exposure. The relationship between pH and hardness of water with fluoride was measured, and then spatial maps were generated. The investigations resulted in a conclusion that hardness of water had a more pronounced impact on the level of fluoride concentration as compared with pH. Water with more hardness contains more fluoride concentration (25 mg/ml) as compared with soft water (4 mg/ml). This paper also revealed the concentration of fluoride content in the bodies of aluminum plant workers, which varied from 0.06 to 0.17 mg/L of blood serum in the case of pot room workers and 0.01 to 0.04 mg/L in the case of non-pot room workers. In fingernails, it varied from 0.09 to 3.77 mg/L and 0.39 to 1.15 mg/L in the case of pot room and non-pot room workers, respectively. In urine, it varied from 0.53 to 9.50 mg/L in pot room workers and 0.29 to 1.80 mg/L in non-pot room workers. This paper concluded that water was safe for drinking purposes if it has a low hardness (60-140 mg/ml) and pH (7.1-7.4).