Natural fluoride content of communal water supplies in the United States.

  • United States. Division of Dental Public Health.
Date:
[1959]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Natural fluoride content of communal water supplies in the United States. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    States with at least a single source of drinking water with a natural fluo- ride concentration of 0.7 ppm or more. More than half (52 percent) of these communities are located in 6 States--Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas (Table I and Figures I and 2). | The States of Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Delawael reported no Known communal water sources with natural fluoride levels of O.7 ppm or more. Over 6,952,000 persons reside in communities that have natural fluo- ride-bearing water sources with minimum concentrations of O.7 ppm. Of This number, about 40 percent dwell in Texas. In New Mexico, 68 percent of the total State population (the largest proportion of any State) live in areas supplied by at least one communal water source which naturally bears a fluo- ride level of at least O.7 ppm. Of the 1,903 communities enumerated, 1,119 have single water sources; 320 have multiple water sources; and for 464 places maximum and minimum fluoride concentrations were reported, without specification as to the number of water sources utilized. Natural fluoride water concentrations averaging, 0:7 = lai poeean pres- ent in 895 communities with about 4,256,000 residents, or 61 percent of the total population provided with natural fluoride-bearing drinking water (Table II and Figure 3). This range approximates the recommended fluoride levels for optimal dental caries control in the United States. Average fluoride levels of 1.2 - 1.4 ppm are found in the water supplies of 263 com- munities with 598,000 persons (9 percent of total), and at the top of the scale there are 620 communities with about 1,400,000 people (20 percent of total) with fluoride concentrations in their drinking water of 1.5 ppm BAL