Is Drinking Groundwater in India Safe for the Health of Domestic Animals with Respect to Fluoride?

In rural India, most livestock keepers feed their livestock with water from hand-pumps and bore-wells as these sources of drinking water are abundant and easily accessible. But most of these water sources have been found to have fluoride content much higher than the prescribed standards of 1.0 or 1.5 ppm. Drinking such water again and again for a long time not only worsens the health of animals but also leads to a dangerous disease called fluorosis (hydrofluorosis). Due to this disease, the teeth of the animals become weak and discoloured (dental fluorosis) and also fall out soon, while the animals start walking with a limp (skeletal fluorosis). In chronic fluoride exposure, many health problems such as gastrointestinal discomforts, body weakness, polydipsia, polyuria, frequent abortions etc. also develop in domestic animals. At 1.5-4.4 ppm of fluoride in drinking groundwater, 28.3-70.2% and 25.7-64.1% of different species of domestic animals including cattle (Bos taurus), water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis), sheep (Ovis aries), and goats (Capra hircus) are found to be afflicted with dental and skeletal fluorosis, respectively. In rural India, > 90% of drinking groundwater sources is naturally contaminated with fluoride. Fluoride is present in groundwater in 23 of the country’s 37 states and union territories. Among these states, 70–100% districts in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Telangana and 40–70% districts in the rest of the states have fluoride-contaminated groundwater with maximum allowable levels >1.0 ppm or 1.5 ppm. Based on published reports on endemic hydrofluorosis in various species of domestic animals, such water is not safe for the health of the animals. In the present communication, attention has been drawn to the concerned people whether the groundwater of rural areas of India is safe for the health of animals in terms of fluoride or not. Along with this, in this article, attention has also been given to how domesticated animals can be saved from hydro fluorosis.

Keywords:Domestic animals; Fluoride toxicosis; Groundwater; hydrofluorosis; Rural India