Posted on 01/26/2005 5:13:25 AM PST by Born Conservative
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."
Which Teas Scored Highest
Iced Teas May Have Too Much Fluoride
Researchers analyzed the fluoride content of commercial instant tea mixes after diagnosing a middle-aged woman with spinal pain caused by extremely dense bones. Tests showed that the woman had high levels of fluoride in her urine.
The woman said she drank 1 to 2 gallons of double-strength instant tea throughout the day, which prompted researchers to test for fluoride content in several brands of instant iced tea mixes available in grocery stores.
They sent 10 samples of iced tea mixes to two different independent laboratories in St. Louis for testing. The teas were prepared on two separate occasions using distilled water.
The results appear in the January issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
Their analysis showed that the fluoride content of the instant tea mixes varied from 1.0 ppm to a high of 6.5 ppm. The results of the tests for each brand appear below:
| Brand | Product | Laboratory 1 (Flouride ppm) | Laboratory 2 (Flouride ppm) | Mean Results (Flouride ppm) |
| Lipton | Instant (1999) | 2.7 | 2.6 | 2.6 |
| Lipton | Instant (2003) | 7.7 | 5.4 | 6.5 |
| Lipton | Instant decaffeinated | 3.1 | 2.4 | 2.7 |
| Lipton | Instant diet iced tea mix (decaffeinated lemon) | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Lipton | Naturally decaffeinated flow-through bags | 1.9 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Nestea | Instant | 2.4 | 2.1 | 2.3 |
| Nestea | Instant decaffeinated | 2.4 | 2.2 | 2.3 |
| Schnucks | Instant | 1.5 | 1.0 | 1.3 |
| AriZona | Lemon iced tea mix | 2.5 | 1.9 | 2.2 |
| Luzianne | Specially blended for iced tea (bags) | 3.9 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
Researchers say that daily consumption of 3 milligrams of fluoride for women and 4 milligrams for men is considered enough to prevent tooth decay.
In many communities, fluoride is added to drinking water for this purpose. But researchers say the Public Health Service indicates that the fluoride concentration in water should not exceed 1.2 ppm.
Typically adults consume less than 1 milligram of fluoride per day in their food. Fluorinated water increases intake by about 1 milligram per day.
According to the researchers it would take at least 10 milligrams of fluoride daily for 10 years to begin to show signs of fluorosis on bone x-rays.
Americans are also exposed to fluoride from other sources, such as fluorinated toothpastes and other dental products. More unusual fluoride sources include pesticides, Teflon-coated cookware, chewing tobacco, and some wines and mineral waters.
But researchers say that until now instant iced tea mixes have not been recognized as potential sources of fluoride in people's diets. They say their findings indicate that doctors should ask people who complain about bone aches and pains about how much tea they drink in order to rule out skeletal fluorosis.
In the case of their patient, researchers say the pain gradually went away over several years after she stopped drinking instant tea.
Lipton Instant (1999) 2.7 2.6 2.6
Lipton Instant (2003) 7.7 5.4 6.5
Wonder what they did?
Al Gore, call your lawyer.
Ten years before any ill effects?
Not to worry...global warming will get ya first.
Ping
The drinking water standards are based on consuming 8 glasses a day for a lifetime. If one does that, there is a one-in-a million chance you will develop cancer. If you drink tap water alone, there is a one-in-a thousand chance you will develop cancer via THMs (trihalomethanes) after drinking 8 glasses a day for a lifetime.
Well, you’ve heard of instant coffee,
And you’ve heard of instant tea,
And now you guys just feast your eyes on little old instant me!
From the Gal Who Invented Rock 'n Roll
Wow...I drink tea like a fish! Looks like I'm in trouble, 'cuz I rarely drink anything else.
Huh???? The means she drank 16 to 32 cups of instant tea every day? What is she - an elephant or a camel? What boloney!!!
Thought you would want to know this. ;-)
Happy Birthday to you!!!!
Apparently she was using the product incorrectly as well.
OTOH, it will save on dentist bills
He's dead Jim.
But look at them chompers!
"I can no longer sit back and allow Lipton infiltration, Lipton indoctrination, Lipton subversion and the international Lipton conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids!"
Well, I drink almost a gallon of tea a day during the winter, & about 1.5 gals in the summer months. I don't drink tap water, 'cuz I can taste the chlorine & it makes me gag...it tastes like I'm drinking bleach! I don't like coffee or alcohol...but I jokingly refer to myself as a "tea-aholic".
Only in the Summer when I am playing tennis do I drink do I drink more than 2 - 3 liters a day. How many times an hour do you urinate? Why do you meed so much water?
In regards to this article . . .
THE SKY IS FALLING!
THE SKY IS FALLING!
I thought the same thing. I don't drink lots of instant tea either.;-)
Sorta like the coffee thing.
Good.......
Not good...........
Good........
Not good......ect......... know what I mean?
That's it. I'm firing all my tea drinkers. I'm not going to get stuck with the health insurance costs of these tea drinkers. You want to drink tea? Find a sucker who'll pay the tab for such risky behavior.
I'm going to go have a cigar now.
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