Human Health Hazards of Fluoride Ions: A Case Study of Al-Busif Village Water Supply Station, Iraq

Abstract

The current study aimed to assess the health risks of fluoride in drinking water from the Al-Busif Water Supply Station and the residential neighborhoods covered by its distribution pipeline
network in the region of northern Iraq. One hundred water samples were collected from ten sites, including intake water, post-treatment water, and other sites distributed throughout residential neighborhoods. The study results indicated that fluoride ion concentrations were within the calculated safe limits for the city of Mosul, ranging between 0.173 ± 0.029 mgL^-1
and 0.206 ± 0.05 mgL^-1. As for the results of the pollution indices Pollution Index (PI), Fluoride Pollution Index (FPI), and Human Health Risk (HHR), the average values of the PI ranged between 0.249 ± 0.016 and 0.292 ± 0.041, classifying the water as no pollution. The same applies to the results of the FPI, which ranged between 1.88 and 1.90 , classifying the water as low pollution water. As for the potential HHR of fluoride, the Hazard quotient (HQi) values were within safe limits (less than 1.0), as the highest risk Hazard quotient values were among male children (0.251) and female children (0.258). The study also found higher hazard quotient (HQi) values among breastfeeding women compared to adult females, reaching values of 0.180. The study recommended periodic monitoring of water quality and the development of efficient scientific programs to reduce the risks of probabilistic pollution in the future.