Mandibular bone fluoride accumulation in wild red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) of known age.

Mandibular bone fluoride concentration and its relation to age were studied in a sample of 39 red deer of known age (between 2 and 18 years) from an area not exposed to increased fluoride deposition (Harz mountains, Germany). Bone fluoride level ranged from 208 to 1026 ppm dry weight and was positively correlated with age (r = 0.808, P < 0.001), the rate of skeletal fluoride accumulation being higher in younger individuals. This indicates that during the period of skeletal growth, fluoride uptake is more rapid than in later life when accumulation at a lower rate occurs during normal bone turnover. Bone fluoride levels found in the present sample are regarded as resulting from "normal" fluoride exposure in a recent central European red deer population.