Harmful Flouride Levels in Instant Iced Teas

[tokidoki]

Jan. 25, 2005 -- Instant iced tea mixes may contain potentially harmful levels of fluoride, according to a new study.

Researchers found some commercial iced tea mixes contain up to 6.5 parts per million (ppm) of fluoride, which is well above the 4 ppm maximum allowed by the EPA in drinking water and 2.4 ppm permitted by the FDA in bottled water and beverages.

The results indicate constantly quenching your thirst with instant iced teas may increase your risk of a rare, but potentially dangerous bone disorder caused by getting too much fluoride in your system.

When fluoride levels are too high, it causes bone-forming cells to produce more skeletal tissue, which increases bone density but also bone brittleness. The condition leads to a disease called skeletal fluorosis and may result in bone pain, stiffening of ligaments, bone spurs, fused vertebrae, and difficulty in moving joints.

"When fluoride gets into your bones, it stays there for years, and there is no established treatment for skeletal fluorosis," says researcher Michael Whyte, MD, professor of medicine, pediatrics, and genetics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, in a news release. "No one knows if you can fully recover from it."

"The tea plant is known to accumulate fluoride from the soil and water. Our study points to the need for further investigation of the fluoride content of teas," says Whyte. "We don't know how much variation there is from brand to brand and year to year."

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/99/105355.htm

[KriegeR]

Hmm. That report surprises me. I use Colgate Duraphat toothpaste which is a special ultra-high fluoride toothpaste that can only be purchased on prescription in the UK. It was recommended to me by an oral hygienist, and I have to use the stuff twice a day.

Now you were saying that this 'tea' contains 6.5ppm of fluoride. Well I've just had a look at the back of my tube of Duraphat, and this stuff contains ... 2800ppm fluoride!

In fact I took a look at my fluoride toothpaste, and this also contains 1450ppm fluoride.

Not sure what to make of that really. I know the fluoride toothpastes warn you not to swallow them and spit them out once used. However 6.5ppm compared to 2800ppm is quite a jump!

Some of the Durphat products are listed under the link below.

http://www.dentalhealthshop.org.uk/acat ... Class.html

After a quick look around the web, there is also a Duraphat fluoride varnish which claims to contain 22,600ppm fluoride!

http://www.colgateprofessional.com/app/ ... aphat.cvsp

[Lisa65]

The woman in that article who developed fluorosis from drinking tea had been drinking one to two GALLONS of it per day for 10 yrs!

Almost any food or substance is bad for you if eaten to excess. For instance carrots, which are good for you and packed with vitamins and antioxidants. But people who get "addicted" to eating carrots and eat pounds and pounds of them every day eventually develop an orange colour to their skin. Or liver, which again is considered very good for you. It's full of iron and vitamin A. But too much liver can cause hypervitaminosis A which can be fatal.

Too much of any one thing is usually not a good idea.