Groundwater fluoride and health problem was meticulously studied for dental and skeleton fluorosis except few studies on urolithiasis. Urolithiasis is multi-factorial disease and excess fluoride consumption is one of the causal factors. In view of this, increase of fluoride in groundwater is reported in semiarid Deccan Volcanic Province (DVP), India. To understand the fluoride and urolithiasis association, present study was carried out in Karha river basin of DVP region. Three stages of data generation were adopted for present study such as procuring of medical records of urolithiasis, previous groundwater chemistry data and geochemical investigation of 50 groundwater samples from representative villages. Further, these variables were used for correlation analysis, temporal and spatial distribution to find out their relationships. Result shows medical records of hospitals indicating the gradual increase in urolithiasis is reported during drought situations. In temporal variation, annual fluoride concentration of groundwater and hot days are positively correlated with annual urolith patients as well as spatial study supports the same. In conclusion, present study highlights the relationship of urolith formation with number of hot days, groundwater electrical conductivity and fluoride. However, detailed biomedical study may lead towards understanding of fluoride- urolithiasis relationship.
Geochemical Investigation of Tar Balls Collected on a Beach on Žirje Island (Croatia) Using Petroleum Biomarkers
