Determinación de fluoruro en aguas de Rinconadillas (provincia de Jujuy)

the aim of this study was to determine the presence of fluorides in groundwaters from springs and wells belonging to rinconadillas, a small town located in "la puna" in the province of jujuy. this region was selected because fluoride has been detected during the ′80 by jujuy water agency and a comparative study of fluoride levels would provide information about the variation of concentrations of this "natural" contaminant along the time. in "la puna" the study was conducted on eleven samples of groundwaters from springs and wells from rinconadilllas and its surroundings. nine further samples were obtained in purmamarca, tumbaya, volcán, san salvador de jujuy and palpalá, all of them far from rinconadillas. those samples were selected as prior studies determined that water from such towns does not contain fluoride. eighty two percent of all the samples collected in rinconadillas exceeded fluoride limits stated by argentine legislation (al), while less than ten percent of the samples are below the stated values. fluoride levels from this area were higher than the levels for the reference samples. for the blank samples, only one exceeds the maximum allowed level. fluoride levels found in this study were higher than those coming from samples that have been analyzed 15 years ago indicating that fluoride levels in waters are increasing. it has also been observed that the population has moved to rinconadillas surroundings having a drinking water form new source that is only eventually chlorinated. a remarkable dental fluorosis is observed in the population, which should be clinically and epidemiologically assessed.