Abstract
Fluoride, after absorption from the gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, or skin and mucous membrane reaches different organs and body tissues through blood circulation. Following oral intake, unabsorbed fluoride is excreted through feces, and 50–70 % of absorbed fluoride is excreted through urine, perspiration, saliva, milk, and egg (in birds) and rest is retained in the body. Calcified tissues, mainly bone and teeth, act as a natural sink for fluoride and contain about 99 % of the total body fluoride burden. Fluoride accumulation in soft tissues is very low, with kidneys having the highest concentration. The placenta appears to protect the fetus from the toxic effects of fluoride as evident from low transplacental fluoride passage in many animal species. Normal cerebrospinal fluid contains very low fluoride concentration, but it increases marginally during chronic fluoride toxicity. The exoskeleton in invertebrates, skeletal tissues in fish, and hair and fingernails in vertebrates also accumulate fluoride and may act as bioindicators of the fluoride burden in animals.
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Ranjan, R., Ranjan, A. (2015). Fluoride Kinetics and Metabolism. In: Fluoride Toxicity in Animals. SpringerBriefs in Animal Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17512-6_3
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