Fluoride Analysis for Infant Foods and Estimation of Daily Fluoride Intake

Abstract

To establish the criteria of individual daily fluoride intake (DPI), fluoride analysis is necessary to ascertain the adequate intake (AI) of fluoride on a world-wide basis. Monitoring fluoride intake is useful in terms of fluoride application for the prevention of dental caries and oral diseases. The purpose of this study was to estimate DPI for food samples of commercially available infant formula and baby food. Fluoride was determined by hexamethyldisiloxane-microdiffusion method at 60℃ for 12 hr over. Fluoride concentrations of infant formula (ready-to-feed) with 0.1 ppm fluoride drinking water ranged from 0.14 to 0.22 μg/ml (mean 0.17 μg/ml, n=10), and fluoride contents of cereal, meat and fish, vegetable and juice showed mean value of 0.30 (n=11), 013 (n=20), 0.23 (n=11) and 0.10 μg/g (n=6), respectively. The estimated mean DFIs for infants 3-4, 5-6, and 7-8 months of age were 0.166, 0.202, and 0.266 mg/day. DFIs according to body weight ranged from 0.023 to 0.029 mg/kg in infants of 3-8 months of age, which were below the 0.05-0.07 mg/kg levels that are currently the criteria for the occurrence of enamel fluorosis. Based on these results we suggest that with the establishment of the AI of fluoride, regional guidelines for different fluoride concentrations in drinking water can be established.