Industrial fluoride pollution of vegetables in Hubei Province, China

Fluoride concentrations in vegetables grown in areas 3 km and 45 km away from the fluoride polluting Wuhan Iron and Steel Factory of Hubei province, China, were determined by ultra-sensitive single-sweep polarography. Vegetables from as close as 3 km to the factory have about double the fluoride content as those grown 45 km distant. Cleaning the polluted vegetables with water reduced the fluoride content to nearly the same level as in vegetables grown 45 km away from the factory, thereby indicating that most of the polluting fluoride can be removed by appropriate washing.