Biomonitoring of fluoride contamination of wild ruminant habitats in Northern Bohemia (Czech Republic)

Fluoride content and occurrence of dental fluorosis were studied in 39 mandibles of four ruminant species (red deer, roe deer, sika deer and mouflon) from five hunting districts situated in the fluoride contaminated ore mountains and its foreland in Northern Bohemia. Compared to controls from areas in Germany not exposed to increased fluoride deposition, bone fluoride concentrations in the N-Bohemian red and roe deer samples were elevated by factors of 5.5 and 6.6, respectively. All specimens from N-Bohemia exhibited characteristic dental lesions resulting from chronic fluoride intoxication during tooth development. In the three deer species, the degree of dental fluorosis of the permanent cheek teeth was assessed using a scoring scheme. On the basis of these individual tooth scores, dental lesion indices were calculated for the tooth rows. Increase of this index (DLI) was positively associated with an increase in bone fluoride concentration. Recording dental lesion indices thus offers the opportunity for a quick and economic large scale biomonitoring of the level of fluoride contamination of deer habitats. The differences in the degree of fluorotic alteration of the M(1) and M(2) between fluorosed red and roe deer mandibles were related to variation in the timing of mineralization of these teeth in the two species.