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Chronic Toxicity of Dietary Fluorine to Mink¹

Michigan State University², East Lansing, 48824

Abstract

Seventy-two 3-mo-old pastel mink were fed diets that contained 0, 33, 60, 108, 194 or 350 ppm supplemental fluorine (F), as NaF, for 382 d to assess its effects on growth, fur quality, reproduction and survivability. The basal diet contained 35 ppm F as fed. No significant differences were observed in body weight gains or fur quality between the controls and any of the F-treated groups (P>.05). Some males fed 350 ppm supplemental F for a 4-mo period prior to pelting had weakened frontal, parietal and femoral bones that fractured during the pelting process. The F treatments had no measurable adverse effects on breeding, gestation, whelping or lactation, although only 14% of the kits whelped by females fed 350 ppm F survived to 3 wk of age. The survivability of the adult mink was adversely affected only at 350 ppm supplemental F. At the termination of the study, no differences were observed in hematologic parameters or serum calcium concentrations between the controls and treated mink (P>.05), but serum alkaline phosphatase activities were increased (P<.05) by the two highest dietary F levels. Serum F levels were elevated (P<.01) only in mink fed 194 and 350 ppm F, and urinary and femoral F concentrations in the treated animals were generally greater (P<.05; P<.01) than control values and were closely related with dietary F levels. Femoral ash contents of the 194 and 350 ppm F-treated mink were less than the control values (P<.05). Clinical signs of toxicosis included skeletal and dental lesions, general unthriftiness and hyperexcitability.

¹ Supported in part by the Mink Farmers Research Foundation, Thiensville, WI and published with the approval of the Michigan Agric. Exp. Sta. as journal article no. 12189.

² Dept. of Anim. Sci. and Center for Environ. Toxicol.