Inorganic content of water and prevalence of goitre in Sri Lanka

Introduction: Goitre is endemic in Sri Lanka. Iodine deficiency is considered to be the main aetiological factor for goitre in this country. The role of other aetiological factors is well recognized in the literature. The recognized factors apart from iodine include organisms, inorganic content of water and diet. Data on the relationship between goitre and inorganic content of water is not available for Sri Lankan population.
Objectives: To determine the relationship between goitre and inorganic matter of water such as fluoride, magnesium, nitrate and hardness of water.
Design and setting: Descriptive cross-sectional study carried out in 108 Grama Niladhari (GN) areas, island wide.
Method: The country was divided into 6 zones based on the rainfall pattern and 18 GN areas were selected from each zone by randomisation based on PPS (Probability P Score). Two water samples were collected randomly from each GN area one from the people with goitres and other from the non-goitre subjects. The water was analysed at the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI).
Results: 108 samples from goitre and non-goitre groups were analyzed respectively. Comparative values for each inorganic content in respect to subjects with and without goitre groups were as follows, Total hardness (CaCO₃) mg /L - 55.44, 59.15; Calcium (Ca) mg /L - 15.76, 13.71; Magnesium (Mg) mg /L - 3.14, 4.08; Fluoride (F) mg /L - 0.31, 0.37. There is no discernable statistically significant difference between two groups in relation to inorganic content of water.
Conclusion: There was no clear relationship between the inorganic matter of water and prevalence of goitre in this study.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sljs.v27i1.1896

The Sri Lanka Journal of Surgery 2009: 27: 9-12