Fluoride in Ceylon tea and its implications to dental health

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the fluoride content of Ceylon Tea, which is a popular beverage throughout the world. The fluoride content of tea infusions prepared from different grades of tea leaves collected from different parts of the tea-growing regions (25 samples) of Sri Lanka was measured using a fluoride-selective electrode. Fluoride leaching was found to vary from 0.32 to 1.69 mg F/l, but there were no significant differences in terms of fluoride leaching between tea from different tea-growing regions or between tea of different grades. Dental fluorosis is widespread throughout the dry zone of Sri Lanka, and drinking water has traditionally been considered to be the main contributory factor to the development of fluorosis. However, diet, the consumption of tea in particular, may also contribute to the manifestation of dental diseases.

Fluoride in Drinking Water: Health Effects and Remediation

“…Other than the water consumption beverages such as tea and food stuff contribute most estimated fluoride intake (Cao et al 1998;Chandrajith et al 2007;Rao and Mahajan 1990). Dry tea leaves also have significantly high levels of fluoride of up to 400 mg/kg, however due to the ingestion of tea the fluoride exposure ends up ranging from 0.04 to 2.7 mg/person/day (Murray 1986).…”

“…It provides an appreciable proportion of the daily dietary intake of fluoride (Duckworth and Duckworth 1978;Walters et al 1983). Tea prepared in distilled water showed fluoride concentrations varies from 0.32 to 3.3 mg/L (Chandrajith et al 2007;Whyte et al 2005). However, this may vary with the type, fertilizer and the geographical differences in tea plantations.…”

Fluoride levels in commercially available rice in Ethiopia

“…Drinking water is traditionally considered to be the main source of fluoride and, therefore, artificial fluoridation is common in many water supplies [36]. Daily intakes of fluoride vary widely according to the various sources of exposure.…”

Study of Fluoride Level in the Ground Water of Alagilat City, Libya: Correlation With Physicochemical Parameters

“…Fluoride in drinking water has become one of the most health problems around the world, as 200 million people from different countries are subject to dental and skeletal fluorosis. Many countries, such as China, India, Srilanka, Mexico, Argentina, and many states in Africa, have very high rates of dental and skeletal fluorosis caused by the high levels of fluoride in drinking water 11,12 . Fluorosis is widespread in many developed and developing countries such as India, China, United States and Australia 13 .…”