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Document ID ca-bc-awqcfor-1990-02-16 Title Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Fluoride Overview Report URL unknown Jurisdiction /ca/bc Subdomain(s) Drinking Water, Industrial Water, Wastewater, Agricultural Water Language en Status completed Analyzed at 2026-03-15 09:16:50.462486+00:00 Relevance Numeric water quality guidelines for raw drinking and industrial water sources.

6 Qualitative 23 Quantitative 14 Definitions

Q Qualitative Requirements (6)

Req ID	Category	Intent	Legal Status	Name	Subdomain(s)	Context	Conditions	Confidence
#Q001	monitoring	operational	guideline	Minimum Sample Size for 30-Day Mean	drinking water	The mean is based on a minimum of five samples.	Applies when calculating the 30-day mean for raw drinking water.	high
#Q002	treatment	health	recommended	Reduction of Excessive Fluoride	drinking water	Water supplies which have excessive fluoride levels need to be reduced before delivery to the consumer.	When natural raw drinking water supplies exceed the fluoride drinking water objective.	high
#Q003	treatment	health	recommended	Addition of Fluoride to Deficient Supplies	drinking water	Other supplies are below the objective and need to have fluoride added since too little has detrimental effects on teeth.	When water supplies are below the fluoride objective.	high
#Q004	prohibition	health	recommended	Marketing Restriction for High-Fluoride Bone Meal Supplements	agricultural water	It is recommended that such products not be marketed if their fluoride levels exceed 5 to 10 mg fluoride/kg of product.	Applies to dairy feed, mineral, and bone meal feed supplements to prevent excessive total fluoride dose.	high
#Q005	corrective_action	treatment	mandatory	Simultaneous Administration of Aluminum Salts	agricultural water	Aluminum salts must be fed simultaneously; they will not deplete already deposited fluoride.	If aluminum compounds are being fed to livestock to alleviate fluoride toxicosis.	high
#Q006	corrective_action	health	guidance	Supplemental Phosphorus Feeding	agricultural water	Aluminum compounds may, however, affect dietary phosphorus retention and, if used to alleviate fluoride toxicosis, supplemental phosphorus may have to be fed as well.	If aluminum compounds are used to alleviate fluoride toxicosis in livestock.	high

P Quantitative Requirements (23)

Req ID	Category	Intent	Legal Status	Name	Subdomain(s)	Limit Type	Limit Value	Context	Conditions	Confidence
#P001	chemical	health	guideline	Total Fluoride	drinking water	requirement	1.0 mg/L	Raw Drinking Water	30-day mean	high
#P002	chemical	health	guideline	Total Fluoride	drinking water	MAC	1.5 mg/L	Raw Drinking Water	maximum	high
#P003	chemical	health	guideline	Total Fluoride	aquatic life	MAC	0.4 mg/L	Fresh Water Aquatic Life	where the water hardness is 10 mg/L CaCO3	high
#P004	chemical	health	guideline	Total Fluoride	aquatic life	MAC	1.5 mg/L	Marine Aquatic Life	maximum	high
#P005	chemical	health	guideline	Total Fluoride	other	requirement	1.0 mg/L	Wildlife	30-day mean	high
#P006	chemical	health	guideline	Total Fluoride	other	MAC	1.5 mg/L	Wildlife	maximum	high
#P007	chemical	health	guideline	Total Fluoride	agricultural water	requirement	1.0 mg/L	Dairy Cows, Breeding Stock - long-lived animals	30-day mean	high
#P008	chemical	health	guideline	Total Fluoride	agricultural water	MAC	1.5 mg/L	Dairy Cows, Breeding Stock - long-lived animals	maximum	high
#P009	chemical	health	guideline	Total Fluoride	agricultural water	requirement	1.0 mg/L	Livestock - high fluoride diets - mineral or bone meal feed additives	30-day mean	high
#P010	chemical	health	guideline	Total Fluoride	agricultural water	MAC	2.0 mg/L	Livestock - high fluoride diets - mineral or bone meal feed additives	maximum	high
#P011	chemical	health	guideline	Total Fluoride	agricultural water	requirement	2.0 mg/L	All Other Livestock - normal diet	30-day mean	high
#P012	chemical	health	guideline	Total Fluoride	agricultural water	MAC	4.0 mg/L	All Other Livestock - normal diet	maximum	high
#P013	chemical	health	guideline	Total Fluoride	agricultural water	requirement	1.0 mg/L	Irrigation - all soils	30-day mean	high
#P014	chemical	health	guideline	Total Fluoride	agricultural water	MAC	2.0 mg/L	Irrigation - all soils	maximum	high
#P015	chemical	health	guideline	Total Fluoride	other	requirement	1.0 mg/L	Industrial - beer - beverages - processed foods	30-day mean	high
#P016	chemical	health	guideline	Total Fluoride	other	MAC	1.5 mg/L	Industrial - beer - beverages - processed foods	maximum	high
#P017	chemical	health	guidance	Fluoride (Minimum for dental health)	drinking water	treatment_goal	< 0.5 mg/L	High dental caries levels may occur if fluoride levels are below this value.	Natural water supplies	high
#P018	chemical	health	guidance	Fluoride (No skeletal effects threshold)	drinking water	requirement	< 3.0 or 4.0 mg/L	Threshold below which no skeletal effects are observed in adults.	Adult populations	high
#P019	chemical	aesthetic	guidance	Fluoride (Mottling threshold)	drinking water	requirement	<= 5.0 mg/L	Levels up to this concentration cause only mottling of tooth enamel in adults.	Adult populations	high
#P020	chemical	health	recommended	Fluoride (Optimum Level - Temperature Dependent)	drinking water	treatment_goal	1.0 or 1.2 mg/L	Optimum level based on 10°C or 12°C isotherms; 1.0 mg/L is recommended for BC to allow for a safety margin.	Climate/Temperature dependent (isotherms)	high
#P021	chemical	health	guideline	Fluoride (Maximum Acceptable Level - Temperature Dependent)	drinking water	MAC	1.5 or 1.7 mg/L	Maximum acceptable levels determined by 10°C or 12°C isotherms.	Climate/Temperature dependent (isotherms)	high
#P022	chemical	treatment	recommended	Fluoride in bone meal supplements	agricultural water	requirement	<= 5 to 10 mg/kg	Recommended marketing limit for bone meal feed products to avoid exceeding livestock daily fluoride doses.	Marketing of bone meal products	high
#P023	chemical	aesthetic	guidance	Fluoride (Childhood tooth mottling threshold)	drinking water	AO	< 1.0 mg/L	Water with less than 1.0 mg/L fluoride will seldom cause mottled tooth enamel in children.	Children	high

D Definitions (14)

Req ID	Name	Context	Confidence
#D001	CCREM	Canadian Council of Resource and Environment Ministers	high
#D002	CCME	Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment	high
#D003	fluorosis	Fluoride accumulates, permanently, in the long bones of vertebrates, causing fluorosis, when present in excessive amounts.	high
#D004	guideline	province-wide in application, are use-specific, and are developed for some or all of the following specific water uses: Raw drinking, public water supply and food processing; Aquatic life and wildlife; Agriculture (livestock watering and irrigation); Recreation and aesthetics; Industrial (water supplies)	high
#D005	mg/L	milligrams per litre	high
#D006	LC50	The fluoride level necessary to cause death of half a population	high
#D007	Exposure	Exposure requires contact with substances containing the chemical.	high
#D008	BC	British Columbia	high
#D009	CCREM Guidelines	Canadian Water Quality Guidelines	high
#D010	30-day mean	The mean is based on a minimum of five samples.	high
#D011	dose	how much	high
#D012	duration	how long	high
#D013	timing	when in the life cycle	high
#D014	route of exposure	injection, inhalation, ingestion, contact	high