HYDRO-TELLURIC FLUOROSIS IN MOROCCO: TOXICITY, FLUOROPATHY AND CURRENT STATE OF PREVENTIVE ASPECTS

Prolonged exposure to fluorides causes chronic fluoride intoxication in humans and animals, which the main manifestation is, osteodental fluorosis. In Morocco, fluorosis affects a large number of animals, particularly ruminants, and constitutes a serious handicap in contaminated regions, both economically and in terms of health. It is identified by a change in the color, structure and orientation of the teeth, and by a change in the structure and texture of the bones. Regardless of the animal species affected, fluorosis appears after a relatively long period of exposure, from several months to several years, by disorders of phosphocalcic metabolism resulting in osteodental changes associated with various general symptoms. These lesions compromise the grip, chewing and movement of the animals, and thus cause malnutrition, a drop in productivity and sometimes may lead to death. These disturbances have the characteristic of being irreversible, since once installed, no treatment allows to eliminate them in a definitive way, prevention is therefore the only way to alleviate. In order to face this fluoride intoxication, farmers use mainly empirical methods, such as transhumance, the purchase of animals from fluoride free zones or their sale at a young age before the appearance of dental lesions. The reduction of ingestion by using water sources and feed with low fluoride content as well as the supplementation of minerals (Al, Mg, B, Ca) and vitamins (the case of vitamin C) to limit absorption, are also practiced. However, aluminum-based licking salt blocks and supplemented feed enriched with minerals and vitamins are no longer used due to the lack of financial means of some breeders and state financial support. While the preventive effects of calcium, magnesium and boron, have still not been the subject of clinical studies in ruminants. Decidedly, the lack of vulgarization and the socio-economic level of the population, as well as the lack of financial support, constitute the main obstacles in the ultimate goal of counteracting hydrotelluric fluorosis.