Fluoride in water and heavy tea drinking raise cancer fears

Your article highlighting research demonstrating that excessive tea drinking may pose a cancer risk was interesting in that the main contaminant found in tea is fluoride.

Black tea contains perhaps the highest sources of dietary fluoride for consumers, which in Ireland becomes a problem when you only have artificially fluoridated drinking water to prepare beverages with, resulting in further increasing the total dietary fluoride intake for consumers. It should be noted, however, that tea extracts have antioxidative, antitumor, antimutagenic, and anticarcinogenic activities.

It is interesting to note that the World Health Organisation has repeatedly recommended that, prior to commencing any water fluoridation programme, the individual dietary fluoride intake must be determined.