Tea might pose fluoride risk

 
Here's an example of bad science journalism from the latest edition of New Scientist [Tea might pose fluoride risk].

Tea might pose fluoride risk

Tea drinkers beware. Too much of the wrong kind can add significantly to the amount of fluoride you consume, with the tea in just four cups supplying up to one-third of the maximum safe daily amount.

You have to read further in the article to see that it refers to a study done in Sri Lanka where the drinking water contains high levels of fluoride.

In some parts of Sri Lanka drinking water contains up to five times the maximum fluoride recommended by the World Health Organization, and some 98 per cent of people are affected by fluorosis.

The study shows that local tea grown in Sri Lanka contains fluoride so when you make tea with the water containing excess fluoride you get an increased dose of fluoride. Even if you make the local tea with distilled water you still get excessive doses of fluoride with just four cups of this tea.

All this is explained in the article but the headline and the opening paragraph are very misleading. It's only certain kinds of tea that might cause a problem and it's not at all clear whether people in other countries can even buy this tea. It almost seems as though the person who wrote this article was deliberately trying to to scare people in order to attract readers. That's not acceptable science journalism.

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[Photo Credit: Harvesting tea leaves in Malaysia from Encyclopedia Brintannica]