STUDIES ON THE LEACHING OF FLUORIDE IN TEA INFUSIONS

In order to assess the levels of fluoride ingestion through intake of tea, studies were conducted with four different brands of tea leaves c ommonly available in the Indian market. Four most prevalent methods fo r the preparation of tea with various contact times (2,4,6,8 and 10 mi n) of tea leaves with water show that: (a) leaching of fluoride is lea st in case of leaf tea as compared to powdered tea (F levels increasin g with decreasing grain size); (b) leaching of fluoride reaches a maxi mum after a contact of about 6 min; (c) there is no difference between levels of fluoride with or without addition of milk in the English st yle where tea leaves are not boiled, while for the Indian style, addit ion of milk and subsequent boiling resulted in reduction of fluoride l evels and (d) ingestion of fluoride per cup of tea ranged from 1.55 mg /l to 3.21 mg/l amounting to an intake per day per person of fluoride between 0.3 to 1.9 mg.