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Bone fluoride concentrations of eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) resident near an aluminium smelter in south-eastern Australia

Ecotoxicology volume 20, pages 1378–1387 (2011)Cite this article

Abstract

Lesions of skeletal and dental fluorosis have been described recently in eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus). The present study further examined the epidemiology of skeletal fluorosis in this species. Bone fluoride concentrations were obtained from a range of skeletal sites of animals from a high (Portland Aluminium) and a low (Cape Bridgewater) fluoride environment in Victoria, Australia. Age, but not sex, affected the mean bone fluoride concentration of kangaroos. For a given age, bone fluoride concentrations were significantly higher in kangaroos from Portland than Cape Bridgewater. Concentrations varied between skeletal sites examined, with samples containing cancellous bone having higher fluoride concentrations than those containing only cortical bone.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported financially by Alcoa Portland Aluminium Pty Ltd. We would like to thank Mr Ron Jeffries and Mr Chris Finlayson from Portland Aluminium for their help with the collection of kangaroos, and Prof Bob Augusteyn for the estimation of kangaroo age based on lens protein. We would also like to acknowledge the help of the ChemicalAnalysis Pty Ltd laboratory (Bulleen, Victoria) in analysing all the reference bone fluoride samples and Garry Anderson for statistical advice. Thank you also to the anonymous reviewers whose comments made valuable contributions to this manuscript. Kangaroos were collected under Authority to Control Wildlife Permit to Portland Aluminium (13191591) and Research Permit to I. Beveridge (10004787) for tissue collection.

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Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Melbourne, 250 Princes Highway, Werribee, VIC, 3030, Australia

    J. Hufschmid & I. Beveridge

  2. Department of Zoology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    G. Coulson

  3. Environment Department, Portland Aluminium, Portland, VIC, Australia

    J. Gould

Authors
  1. J. Hufschmid
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  2. I. Beveridge
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  3. G. Coulson
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  4. J. Gould
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Correspondence to J. Hufschmid.

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Hufschmid, J., Beveridge, I., Coulson, G. et al. Bone fluoride concentrations of eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) resident near an aluminium smelter in south-eastern Australia. Ecotoxicology 20, 1378–1387 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-011-0695-0

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Keywords

  • Fluorosis
  • Macropod
  • Marsupial
  • Fluoride emissions
  • Kangaroo
  • Aluminium smelter