U. Kierdorf et al., MANDIBULAR BONE FLUORIDE ACCUMULATION IN WILD RED DEER (CERVUS-ELAPHUS L) OF KNOWN AGE, Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Part A, Physiology, 110(4), 1995, pp. 299-302
Mandibular bone fluoride concentration and its relation to age were st
udied in a sample of 39 red deer of known age (between 2 and 18 years)
from an area not exposed to increased fluoride deposition (Hart mount
ains, Germany). Bone fluoride level ranged from 208 to 1026 ppm dry we
ight and was positively correlated with age (r=0.808, P<0.001), the ra
te of skeletal fluoride accumulation being higher in younger individua
ls, This indicates that during the period of skeletal growth, fluoride
uptake is more rapid than in later life when accumulation at a lower
rate occurs during normal bone turnover. Bone fluoride levels found in
the present sample are regarded as resulting from ''normal'' fluoride
exposure in a recent central European red deer population.