Epidemiological and radiological study of skeletal fluorosis in Minzhu Town, Longli County, Guizhou Province, China

A study was made of an area of endemic fluorosis based on the relation betw een detection rate or incidence, classification and severity of skeletal fl uorosis, and sex-age distribution. The results show that Minzhu Town of Lon gli County is a moderate and typical epidemic area of endemic fluorosis res ulting from coal-burning pollution in Guizhou, Province, China, Five featur es characterize the skeletal fluorosis of the residents: (1) Osteosclerosis is significantly more prevalent than osteoporosis. (2) No mixed type of sk eletal fluorosis and no osteomalacia were found in the subjects examined. ( 3) No cases with moderate or severe osteoporosis were found. (4) The severi ty of osteosclerosis in females was significantly milder than in males. (5) The rate of osteoporosis caused by fluoride in females showed no differenc e from that in males. These observations provide new parameters for assessi ng collective conditions of epidemic regions of endemic fluorosis resulting from coal-burning pollution.