Bone fluoride concentrations associated with fluoridated drinking water

Recently published bone fluoride values from Iowa are very high compared to earlier reports, suggesting an increase in fluoride intake. Reanalysis of the Iowa specimens shows levels one-fourth those reported by the Iowa laboratory indicating an error in the original report. Seventeen bone specimens, collected from long-term residents of Rochester, New York, drinking 1 ppm F- water, had a mean value of 2085 +/- 270 ppm F- on an ashed-weight basis. This value is not significantly different from that predicted by the data of Zipkin et al. in 1958. These data, therefore, do not support the contention that there has been an increase in fluoride intake.