Researcher finds fluoride levels in tea can affect drinkers - Fluorosis

The fluoride level in Tap water is the main cause of the the patient faced - Fluorosis!!

From my research into tea production. It is unlikely due to the tea.

For these instants, it is best to check with the city authority; about their fluorosis contents.

The consummer need to know that the best thing for them to do is install a NSF certified Water Filter system, and also make sure that the replacement filter need to be change when it is due.

Researcher finds fluoride levels in tea can affect drinkers
By ALAN BAVLEY Kansas City Star

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Take it easy, tea drinkers.

A researcher at Washington University in St. Louis has found that some instant teas contain startlingly high concentrations of fluoride. When the tea is mixed with fluoridated tap water, the fluoride reaches levels that would set off alarms at the Environmental Protection Agency.

Brewed tea contains comparable amounts of fluoride, studies show.

"For someone drinking two or three glasses a day, I don't think it's a problem," said Michael Whyte, a professor at Washington University's School of Medicine. "But you can imagine somebody in Florida or Arizona drinking two or three quarts of tea a day."

That kind of imbibing caused big trouble for one of Whyte's patients.

The 52-year-old woman had a chronic backache. Her spine and hip bones were unusually thick.

Whyte determined she had fluorosis, a condition manifest by dense and dangerously brittle bones caused by excess fluoride consumption. But he couldn't figure out the source until his patient told him how much instant tea she had been drinking: 1 to 2 gallons a day. Double strength. Her entire adult life.

Whyte bought 10 kinds of instant tea, prepared it at regular strength and sent it to two labs. The fluoride ranged from 1 part per million to 6.5 parts per million. The EPA safety limit for drinking water is 4 parts per million, and the limit for bottled beverages is 1.4 parts per million to 2.4 parts per million.

Whyte wants to alert other doctors that they also may have patients with tea-induced fluorosis. "I reckon there's more cases of this," he said.

The Tea Council of the USA, reacting to Whyte's study, said that "when consumed as part of a healthy diet, tea poses no health risks and likely even provides health benefits."

KRT Wire | 01/30/2005 | Researcher finds fluoride levels in tea can affect drinkers