Urinary fluoride levels in Saudi individuals drinking tap and bottled water

The fluoride concentration in the urine samples of 130 Saudi individuals ag ed 16-70 years old living in Riyadh was determined using a fluoride-specifi c electrode (0.9262 +/- 0.703 mu g ml(-1), 0.16-4.68 mu g ml(-1)). There we re differences in the urinary fluoride levels of the subjects. About 45.5% of the subjects had urinary fluoride less than 0.7 mu g ml(-1). Conversely, 22.3% of the screened subjects had urinary fluoride levels higher than 1.2 mu g ml(-1); this could increase the risk of dental and skeletal fluorosis . Since drinking water is considered to be the major source of fluoride, it was measured in 88 drinking water samples. Significant correlation between fluoride in urine and drinking water was found (r=0.4341, p=0.0237). Bottl ed water had significantly higher fluoride content (0.5205 +/- 0.322 mu g m l(-1)) than tap drinking water (0.1046 +/- 0.0337 mu g ml(-1)). About 67% o f the screened water samples had low fluoride concentrations ( < 0.3 mu g m l(-1)) which is far below the recommended level for caries control.