A CONCISE OVERVIEW OF FLUORIDE CONTAMINATION AND ITS ADVERSE EFFECTS ON HUMAN HEALTH AND PLANT BIOCHEMISTRY

Abstract: Fluoride contamination in water has been a great ecological concern for last few decades. The emergence of fluoride in ground water occurs mainly due to leaching of naturally occurring fluoride bearing minerals, volcanic eruption and some anthropogenic activities like indiscriminate and excessive use of fertilizers. Although it is beneficiary for human health when ingested at very low concentration, but it promotes adverse effects after a certain concentration (>1.5mg/L) instigating several health problems. Prolonged ingestion of high-level fluoride in human body causes dental and skeletal fluorosis as it gets accumulated in hard tissues of body and mineralize bone and teeth. Various non-skeletal fluorosis affecting soft tissues and organs due to high plasma fluoride have also been reported. The fluoride gets accumulated in plants via soil and irrigational water and affects several morphological, physiological and biochemical parameters. Dejected growth, chlorosis, necrosis, abscission of leaves and reduced seed production are the primary symptoms of fluoride toxicity in vegetation. In this review article, various aspects of fluoride like consequences of fluoride toxicity on human health and plant biochemistry have been discussed with the supporting evidences of literature.