1995, pp 25 -28
Submissions | Announcements | Authors | Subject Index
|
FLUORIDE 28 (1), 1995, pp 25 -28 |
International Society for Fluoride Research | Table of Contents |
REPORT OF THE SIXTH FLUORINE SYMPOSIUM IN POLAND
Anna Machoy-Mokrzynska Szczecin, Poland
The successful Sixth Fluorine Symposium, organized by Professor Z Machoy, was held in Szczecin on September 15 1994. The conference was attended by over 50 persons from Poland and abroad. The program comprised nine submitted papers and 24 communications presented in the form of posters.
The first paper, "Influence of fluoride on energy metabolism in vitro and in vivo and related biological effects", was presented by Professor M Guminska of Cracow. The author concentrated her attention on possible interactions of fluorine and magnesium, which appears in many enzymes and participates in the process of ATP formation (Mg-ATP). It was shown that the process of great significance for energy generation was glycolysis, while the enzyme sensitive to fluoride was pyruvate kinase which takes part in ATP formation.
Professor Z Machoy and Professor J Straszko, of Szczecin, in their paper "An attempt to establish the relationship between distribution of fluorine compounds from industrial emission and fluoride content in fallow deer bones", dealt with their verification of the established Polish norms for permissible emission of fluorine compounds, and reported fluoride accumulation in bones of forest animals living in regions of Western Pomerania. Despite modification and modernization of many industrial technologies, as well as the decrease in phosphate fertilizer production, the animals living at large do accumulate more fluorine in bones that the control animals from other regions of Poland.
A continuation of studies on the effect of industrial emissions on forest animals was presented in the paper "Severe chronic fluoride intoxication in free ranging red deer (Cervus elaphus) from Northwestern Bohemia (Czech Republic)" by Dr H Kierdorf et al of Germany. The authors reported new results of their investigations into changes in dentition (dental fluorosis) in deer inhabiting the area of the Czech Republic contaminated by industrial emissions.
The paper submitted by Professor J Franke of Germany, "Neue aspekte zur bestimmung des nüchternserumfluorspiegel beim therapiemonitoring der osteoporose", reported results of treating osteoporosis with various preparations containing fluorine compounds.
Assistant Professor K Opalko-Klucznik of Szczecin, in her paper "Enamel defects in children living in a fluoridated water area", described the morphological changes and defects in children’s teeth caused by tap water fluoridation.
Dr H Minta from the Institute of Veterinary Science, Pulawy, in his communication "Fluorine and other toxic compounds and reproduction", discussed the possible interactions of microelements, particularly between fluorine and selenium, in the processes of embryo- and fetogenesis. Due to the possibility of teratogenic action, the small difference between an indispensable dose and a toxic one is of essential significance. It is hard, in the opinion of the author, to find out the margin of safety for doses of the two elements.
The next paper, "Adaptive mechanisms in chronic poisonings by fluorine compounds", was presented by Dr A Machoy-Mokrzynska of Szczecin. On examples of different species of plants and animals it was disclosed that, after protracted exposure to fluorine compounds, the organisms acquire certain protective (adaptive) mechanisms. The content of fluorine in the tissues keeps increasing to a certain point, reaches a peak, and gets stabilized at that level. Further exposures fail to cause any increase of fluoride in the tissues, but not infrequently a tendency to a decrease may be noticed.
Professor D Chlebna-Sokól of Lódz, in her paper "Usefulness of some biochemical indicators for evaluating the influence of excessive fluorine on children’s skeletons during intensive development ", reported extensions of previously published studies of children from the locality, where the drinking water had an excessive content of fluoride. The biochemical indices pertaining to the bones, and the anthropological investigations, appeared to be extremely useful for evaluating the negative influence of fluorine compounds on the overall growth process at the period of puberty.
The last communication at the plenary session was the paper by Professor E Czerwinski of Cracow, "Computerised x-ray image analysis in the diagnosis of fluorosis ". The author provides a method of modern computer analysis of the radiological image, which facilitates a description of bone structure and specific features of fluorosis.
Twenty-four communications, derived from experimental studies, were presented in the poster session. They covered the following problems: analytic methods for determining fluoride in various materials, including milk and fodder mixtures for poultry and swine; the role of fluoride in the formation of urinary calculi; content of fluoride in serum, urine, nails, and bones; and the effects of fluoride on dentition, embryonal and individual development (in sheep, experimental rats, hamsters and chickens), on metabolism of chemical compounds (glucose, basic phospholipids, activities of enzymes) and on plants (gladiola, algae, vegetables, conifers).
A lively discussion followed the posters presentation. The problem that is almost always debated is, undoubtedly, the verification of analytical methods. Attention was focussed on the necessity of properly preparing biological material for fluoride determination, an area which often gives rise to reservations about findings.
The Sixth Fluorine Symposium in Szczecin was the summing-up of 15-year-long studies on fluorine metabolism in Poland. The Szczecin Centre has come to be the co-ordinator and organizer of meetings, attended by fluoride researchers in Poland and neighbouring countries (Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary) in order to present their results and exchange experiences. The publication of the book, Metabolism of Fluorine ’94 (Szczecin, 1994), containing the papers and communications of this Symposium, was made possible by the sponsorship of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in Poland. The Introduction was written by the Editor of Fluoride, Dr John Colquhoun of Auckland, New Zealand.
We of the international community of fluoride researchers warmly congratulate all participants in the Sixth Fluorine Symposium in Poland. Science, the pursuit of truth about our world and universe, is an international undertaking involving free and unimpeded exchanges of information and research findings. When human freedoms are curtailed, knowledge and truth suffer. The Polish people’s struggles for truth and freedom have become an inspiration to us all. True internationalism does not mean a lessening of national pride. The Polish nation has much to be proud of in many areas of human endeavour.
In far-away Aotearoa/New Zealand, our problems seem small in comparison with the stupendous experiences of the Polish people. But we do know something of the difficulties met in pursuing the goals of truth and freedom. We have rejected nuclear weapons, despite enormous pressures from a major super- power. We refuse to invest in nuclear power plants, despite commercial pressures to do so. To us, the happenings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in 1945, and in Chernobyl in the Ukraine in 1986, are nightmares and terrible lessons for human kind.
The contributions of Polish researchers to our understanding of fluoride toxicity have been mighty. You have much to teach us, in New Zealand and elsewhere. A summary of your last Symposium,1 and some of the excellent Polish research reported then and later,2-8 have been, or will soon be, published in Fluoride. The works of Professor Z Machoy and his colleagues at the Pomeranian Medical Academy in Szczecin have added to world knowledge of fluoride effects, as have the works of Professor J Krechniak and his colleagues at the Medical Academy in Gdansk. Work which attracted particular interest worldwide was the research of Dr D Chlebna-Sokól of Lódz and Professor E Czerwinski of Cracow, reported to the last Symposium and later published in Fluoride.3 Their discovery, using computerized X-ray image analysis, of bone structure disturbances in male children who have dental fluorosis, was of great significance - following as it did American reports of a fluoride dose-related carcinogenic effect (osteosarcoma) on bones of males in animal experiments.9 The Polish authors 3 suggested that the greater effect on boys reflected a greater influence of fluoride on mineralization in the earlier period of development, because boys develop later than girls. However, it has subsequently been pointed out 10 that the greater effect of fluoride on boys’ bones could be because low fluoride concentrations can depress testosterone synthesis.11 The shutting off of bone growth in boys, by the production of testosterone, takes longer than the shutting off in females, which involves œstrogen. Some American authors 10,12 have attached great significance to the fact that osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer, has increased dramatically among teenage boys in fluoridated areas of America but not in nonfluoridated areas.13,14 No doubt further research will throw more light on this intriguing question.
We look forward to receiving more interesting reports on the progress of Polish and European fluoride research, following this Sixth Fluorine Symposium.
Anna Machoy-Mokrzynska
Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Department of Toxicology,
Pomeranian Medical Academy,
70-111 Szczecin, al. Powstancow Wikp. 72, Poland.
| FLUORIDE 28 (1), 1995, pp 25 -28 |
International Society for Fluoride Research | |
|
Home |
Table of Contents |
ISFR Board |
Subscription Submissions | Announcements | Authors | Subject Index |