급성독성을 일으키는 불소의 최소단위는?

불소는 독성이 있는 화학 물질입니다. 동시에 충치예방물질입니다.

불소의 충치예방효과만 이야기 하고 독성은 말해주지 않는 이유는 뭘까요?

불소가 약이라면 효과와 함께 부작용도 함께 설명해야 옳습니다.

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충치예방에 관한 인식수준과 치과치료를 받을 소득 수준이 떨어지는 취약계층을 위해 수돗물에 불소를 넣어야 한다고 주장하는 사람들이 있습니다. 마치 국가가 국민들에게 은혜를 배푸는 것처럼 말을 합니다.

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이런 분들을 보면 꼭 이런 생각이 듭니다. 부모가 아이에게 훈계를 합니다.

부모: "니가 뭘 알아? 이게 좋은 거고 다 너를 위하는 거니까 잠자코 시키는대로 해!"

아이: "누가 내 생각 해달라고 했어?" "자기나 잘하지~"

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급성독성(Acute Toxicity)를 일으키는  불소의 최소 단위는?

화학물질의 독성을 측정하는 가장 기초적인 두 가지 방법: 만성독성(Chronic toxicity)와 급성독성(Acute Toxicity). 만성독성은 오랜 기간 동안 섭취함 으로서 발생하는 해로움을 말하고, 급성독성은 한 번의 섭취만으로 나타날 수 있는 즉각적인 해로움을 말합니다.

불소의 경우, 급성독성증상은 위통, 메스꺼움, 구토, 두통 등 입니다. 이런 증상은 불소 0.1~0.3mg/kg을 섭취 할 경우 나타날 수 있습니다. 예를 들어 몸무게가 10킬로그람인 어린이가 한 번에 불소 0.1~0.3 milligram만 섭취해도 이런 증상이 나타납니다. 불소 1~3밀리그람은 치약 3그람에 들어 있는 양이라고 생각하면 쉽습니다(치약 튜브의 3%이하의 양입니다)

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불소의 급성독성과 관련된 연구 논문과 근거들

“[A]cute fluoride poisonings have occurred at doses of 0.1 to 0.8 mgF/kg of body weight in the USA… At least seven events of acute fluoride poisoning that are related to the fluoridation of drinking water have formally been reported in the USA… Among these occurrences, the estimated toxic dose was lowest in the 1978 event in New Mexico, which involved children in kindergarten and nursery school with the total amount of fluoride per child of 1.4 to 90 mg, which is calculated to be approximately 0.1 mg F/kg in subjects with a body weight of 15 kg. The estimated minimum toxic doses of fluoride involved 0.21, 0.3, 0.34, 0.5, and 0.8 mg/kg in the other events of acute fluoride poisoning in the list, which are much lower than those reported before… Thienes et al in 1972 reported that the dose of fluoride which induces nausea is 0.12 mg/kg (7.2 mg of fluorine/60 kg of body weight), which is close to the toxic doses estimated in the events of fluoride poisoning in the USA… Kasahara et al estimated the minimum toxic dose of fluoride at about 0.2 mgF/kg. They reported that 60 persons took 10 mg amounts of fluoride and more than 90% of them had symptoms. Asou selected 0.1 mg F/kg as the minimum toxic dose.”

SOURCE: Akiniwa, K. (1997). Re-examination of acute toxicity of fluoride. Fluoride 30: 89-104.

“The lowest estimated dose of fluoride that caused symptoms was 0.3 mg per kilogram; 16 percent of the case patients received an estimated dose of less than 1.0 mg per kilogram. The lowest level at which an effect was observed — a level of less than 1 mg of fluoride per kilogram — is similar to that reported in some studies…”

SOURCE: Gessner BD, et al. (1994). Acute fluoride poisoning from a public water system. New England Journal of Medicine 330:95-9.

“Ingested fluoride is transformed in the stomach to hydrofluoric acid, which has a corrosive effect on the epithelial lining of the gastrointestinal tract. Thirst, abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea are usual symptoms. Hemorrhage in the gastric mucosa, ulceration, erosions, and edema are common signs.”

SOURCE: Environmental Protection Agency. (1999). Recognition and Management of Pesticide Poisonings. 5th Edition.

“The most common symptoms were nausea (97%), vomiting (68%), diarrhea (65%), and abdominal cramps (53%); 14 people (41%) reported headaches, four (12%) reported burning sensations in the throat or chest, and one person reported excessive salivation.”

SOURCE: Penman AD, Brackin BT, Embrey R. (1997). Outbreak of acute fluoride poisoning caused by a fluoride overfeed, Mississippi, 1993. Public Health Reports 112:403-9.

“Nausea (90%), vomiting (80%), abdominal pain (52%), diarrhea (23%), loss of appetite (13%), headache (11%), weakness (10%), itching (9%), numbness or tingling of an extremity (4%), shortness of breath (4%), fatigue (4%).”

SOURCE: Gessner BD, et al. (1994). Acute fluoride poisoning from a public water system. New England Journal of Medicine 330:95-9.

“symptoms included: abdominal cramping (66 per cent), nausea (62 per cent), headache (49 per cent), diarrhea (42 per cent), vomiting (13 per cent), diaphoresis (profuse sweating) (12 per cent), and fever (4 per cent).”

SOURCE: Petersen LR, et al. (1988). Community health effects of a municipal water supply hyperfluoridation accident. American Journal of Public Health 78: 711-3.