Excessive fluoride from some teas can damage bones and cause many health effects

Some teas contain more fluoride than EPA allows in public water supplies, which can do skeletal damage, according to research published in Environmental Pollution (Das, et al. 12/2017), reports the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc. (NYSCOF)

It’s undisputed that excessive fluoride ingestion can cause many adverse health effects, not just to bones.

Tea plants (Camellia sinensis) absorb fluoride from soil and air then released from 1.47 to 6.9 milligrams fluoride per liter (mg/L) when brewed, reports Das’ research team

“It can be predicted that long-term consumption of copious quantities of traditional tea might increase the chances of fluorosis in the consumers,” they report.

Fluoride from tea, alone, has reportedly caused skeletal fluorosis, an arthritic-type disease that most US physicians aren’t trained to diagnose and consumers aren’t informed about.

EPA caps fluoride water contamination at 4 mg/L to protect against skeletal fluorosis. But an EPA-requested review of fluoride toxicology research (NRC 2006) revealed 4 mg/L doesn’t protect bones. The level must be lowered – some say to as close to zero as possible.

Additionally, Waugh et al. brewed 54 different brands of tea to find fluoride levels reaching up to 6.1 mg/L.  Waugh concludes that individuals’ total fluoride intake “could readily exceed the levels known to cause chronic fluoride intoxication.” Heart, liver, kidneys, endocrine and nervous systems are also at risk, they caution.

Attorney Paul Beeber, NYSCOF President says:

Without determining  constituents’ total fluoride intake from foods, medicines, dental products, etc., as advised by JV Kumar (formerly NYS DoH),  legislators, lobbied by rich and powerful special interest groups, often pass fluoridation laws quietly to avoid confrontation with science-savvy voters opposed to fluoridation.  This happened in California, Arkansas and New York State. Fluoridation is doing more harm than good.

Alarmingly, some studies found 9 mg/L fluoride in brewed tea.

Beeber says:

No one disputes that excessive fluoride is bad. Local market basket analyses of commonly consumed foods and beverages must be calculated before ever considering water fluoridation. And, New York State’s water fluoridation-protection law must be repealed to enable individuals to manage their own fluoride intake.

USDA provides fluoride content of some common foods.

Many children already ingest and absorb above the recommended daily dose of fluoride from toothpaste alone.

Source: New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation