Effect of sodium fluoride on growth of human diploid cells in culture

Cytotoxicity of sodium fluoride (NaF) on human diploid cells in exponential growth was investigated using a) Flow 1000 cells, passage No. 13, obtained from skin and muscle tissues of male black foetus, b) IMR-90 cells, passage No. 22, derived from lung tissue of female Caucasian foetus and c) primary fibroblast-like cell cultures from 5 Japanese whole foetuses. Diploid cells did not survive at 20 p.p.m. of ionic fluoride (F-) concentration. However, the cells were capable of proliferation with no significant impairment of growth up to 0.2 p.p.m. F-, a level which is much higher than the plasma concentration in human subjects from areas with highly fluoridated water. The growth of the cells was markedly affected by F- concentrations greater than 2 p.p.m.