The relationship of fluorosis and brick tea drinking in Chinese Tibetans.

Abstract

Brick tea-drinking fluorosis is an unusual environmental problem. As a result of an investigation of tea-drinking habits, total fluoride intakes, dental fluorosis, and skeletal fluorosis, this disease has been found in the Sichuan Province of China in Tibetans with a long history of drinking brick tea. The dental fluorosis investigation of 375 Tibetan children (213 males, 162 females) and 161 Han children (86 males, 75 females), 8-15 years of age, was carried out in Daofu County, Sichuan Province. According to the standard of the Chinese Health Ministry, a skeletal fluorosis survey of 658 Tibetans (264 males, 394 females) and 41 Hans (20 males, 11 females), all over 16 years old, was performed. The total fluoride intake and fluorosis were determined from a question--calculation method in all participants. The morbidities of dental fluorosis in Tibetan and Han children are 51.2% and 11.05%, respectively, and the indexes of dental fluorosis are 1.33 and 0.17 (chi 2 = 75.7, p < 0.01) respectively. The morbidity of skeletal fluorosis is 32.83% for Tibetan children and zero for the Han children. The fluoride intakes of Tibetan children and adults were 5.49 mg/person/day and 10.43 mg/person/day, respectively, in this area. Of total everyday fluoride intake, 94.2% by children and 94.4% by adults was from brick tea and zanba (r = 0.99).

Tea and fluorosis

“…Intervention trails are currently underway in some brick-teatype fluorosis endemic areas. The daily F intake of Tibetan children in school decreased from 6.23 mg/day/person to 1.65 mg/day/person after consuming the low-fluoride brick tea Table 2 Relation between F daily intake and the prevalence of dental fluorosis in children [4,31] Subject (ethnic group and area)…”

“…Large epidemiology observations showed that fluorosis could be caused by long-term consumption a large quantities of brick tea by some inhabitants of Tibet, Mongolia and some minorities in the west of China [4]. Bileissi et al found that the dental fluorosis in children was positively associated with the daily mean of tea drinking in a chronic dental fluorsis area in Jordan [5].…”

Distribution of aluminum and fluoride in tea plant and soil of tea garden in Central and Southwest China

“…Even though some epidemiological reports were contradictory (Forster et al, 1995;Rondeau et al, 2000), there was a mounting scientific evidence suggesting a relationship between the neurotoxicity of Al and the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (Aremu and Meshitsuka, 2006). Unbalance of F in the human body can cause dental caries and fluorosis (Cao et al, 1996;Browne et al, 2005;Cunha-Cruz and Nadanovsky, 2005). Therefore, it will be of theoretical and practical significance to study the Al and F contents in tea plants and factors influencing the uptake of Al and F from soils into tea plants for adjusting the condition of soil in tea garden and decreasing contents of Al and F in tea plants.…”

Study of quaternary aquifers in Ganga Plain, India: Focus on groundwater salinity, fluoride and fluorosis

“…Many studies have found fluorosis to be invariably associated with high concentrations of fluoride in drinking water [8,9]. High oral intake of fluoride results in physiological disorders, skeletal and dental fluorosis, thyroxine changes and kidney damage [10,11]. Fluorides accumulate in bones and teeth as fluorapatite and causes bone to become brittle [12,13].…”