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.