100
Fluorine Intoxication of Cattle in India
attempt was made to make the ration similar to
that given under field conditions in those areas
where fluorosis is suspected.
The fluorine dosages in the second and third
groups were selected on the following basis. The
water intake of these hill bulls was, on an average,
2½ gallons per day. It has for long been thought
that the animals in the endemic fluorosis zone
receive their daily fluorine dosage from their
water intake alone. On this consideration these
hill bulls, if transferred to such an area, would
consume 50 mg. of fluorine per clay, assuming
roughly a fluorine concentration of 4 parts per
million in the water supplied. This concentra-
tion of fluorine in water is rather a high one,
though occasionally obtained in endemic fluorosis
zones. A continuous use of water containing much
less (i.e. 1 mg. fluorine per litre) causes mottled
teeth in human beings [Smith and Davey, 1939].
On the other hand, reports available from other
workers reveal that the minimum amount of
fluorine, which, when ingested daily, will result
in a syndrome of chronic fluorosis in cattle is about
3 mg. per kilogram of body weight [Taylor, 1929 ;
Reed and Huffman, 1930 ; Phillips, Hart and
Rohstedt, .1934]. As the weights of our animals
ranged from .125-150 kg., 500 mg. of fluorine per
day represented roughly 3—4 mg. flourine per kg.
body weight.
The fourth group of animals was used to find
out whether the administration of extra calcium
would reduce the toxicity of the administered
fluorine. As previously mentioned, it has been
observed by certain workers that the addition of
bone meal to the feed of cattle relieves the symp-
toms of so-called osteomalacia [Mahajan, 1934-
35, 1935-36]. During the total experimental
period of nine months, calcium phosphate was re-
placed by calcium carbonate from the fifth to the
eighth month. After the eighth month, calcium
phosphate was again susbstituted. The animals
were weighed once a week. For about two hours
every day, they were let loose in an open paddock.
They were, however, muzzled to prevent their
grazing during this time.
Symptoms
From the very beginning the animals of the high
fluorosis group started losing weight. All deve-
loped rough coats. The animals of the calcium
group also lost weight at first but afterwards main-
tained their lower weight. After about six months,
the animals of the high fluorine group became very
emaciated, while the 'animals of the other groups
appeared quite healthy. Moreover, the high
fluorine animals all developed a stiffness of gait,
and their hooves became cracked, elongated
and overlapping. In the eighth month, all three
animals were in very bad condition. One of them
(Plate VIII, Fig. 1) went lame in one of the hind
legs and not one of them could walk without help.
Two of the animals finally died (in the 8th month)
and the other animal, the lame one, was killed.
A close-up photograph of the hoof of one of the
animals illustrates the overgrowth of the hooves.
A crack is also distinctly shown (Plate VIII, Fig. 2).
Post-mortem examination revealed all the
internal organs to be more or less normal. The
animals were all very emaciated. The most
noticeable feature was, however, the exostoses
which were found on all the long bones examined.
Samples of bone with the exostoses visible on
them are shown in Plate IX, Fig. 1. The lame
animal was found to have developed a fracture.
The fractured bone is shown in Plate IX, Fig. 2.
The bones of all the three animals were very fragile
and so soft that they could be cut with a knife.
A histo-pathological study of these bones is now
being carried out.
During the experimental period, the animals of
the control and low fluorine groups maintained
their weight, showing that phosphorus deficiency
by itself is scarcely noticeable in such a short time.
The animals of the calcium group, as stated before,
lost their weight initially, then maintained it at
the lower level for another six months and subse-
quently began to lose again. After about nine
months, two animals of the calcium group were.
found to have small bony outgrowths on the long
bones. One of these two animals was destroyed
as were two animals from the control and two from
the low fluorine groups for the purpose of com-
parison. The control as well as the low fluorine
animals, as was expected, showed no bone ab-
normality, while exostoses were found on the bones
of the animal of calcium group. The condition
of the animal of calcium group was, however,
much better than that of animals of the high fluo-
rine group. The bones were quite strong and the
exostoses fewer in number and much smaller in
size. The other animal of the calcium group
(hill bull No. 148). whose condition appeared to
be a little worse than the animal killed, was
separated and the fluorine addition to the feed was
stopped. At the same time, the animal was
allowed to graze on the scanty grass plots round
the paddock. As a result of this change, the
animal gained about 35 lb. in the course of a
month. It is now under observation and it re-
mains to be seen whether the exostoses which had
appeared will disappear in course of time. It is
evident, however, that the administration of cal-
cium salts considerably mitigates the toxicity of
the fluorine and, thus, our experimental findings
support field observations. This fact is in line
with the findings of Lawrenz and Mitchell [1941]
who observed that in rats an increase in the