Estimating the Fluoride Concentration in Soil and Crops Grown over it in and around Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India

Objectives: A study was conducted with an objective to estimate the fluoride concentration in soil and crops grown over it which was not done before in Mathura city, Uttar Pradesh, India. Methodology and Analysis: From in and around Mathura city, 12 different samples of soil from 12 different fields of 4 different villages were collected along with 12 samples of crops namely rice, wheat and potato grown over it for fluoride estimation. The fluoride concentration in ppm was estimated by using Ion selective electrode method. The data thus collected was put for statistical analysis using Paired t-test and ANOVA-test to find the correlation between fluoride concentration in soil and crops grown over it.
Results: It was found that the mean fluoride concentration of soil was 1.41ppm and in rice, wheat and potato were 0.342ppm, 0.305ppm and 1.025ppm respectively. It was also found that irrespective of fluoride concentration in soil, the fluoride concentration in potato was found to be more as compared to rice and wheat which was statistically significant.
Conclusion: The concentration of fluoride in crops consumed in the locality as seen in this study should be considered as an important source of fluoride in addition to other sources such as water, milk, tea etc.

Author(s): Geetika Arora, Sumit Bhateja

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