{"id":23093,"date":"2018-02-02T10:05:49","date_gmt":"2018-02-02T15:05:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/?p=23093"},"modified":"2021-05-21T11:45:46","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T15:45:46","slug":"test-fluoride-prevent-bone-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/test-fluoride-prevent-bone-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Simple Test for Fluoride Can Help Prevent Crippling Bone Disease"},"content":{"rendered":"

A <\/span>simple test to detect fluoride<\/span><\/a> in drinking water quickly could prevent skeletal fluorosis, a crippling bone disease, according to a team of researchers from the <\/span>Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies<\/span><\/a> and the <\/span>Water Innovation and Research Centre<\/span><\/a> (WIRC) at the <\/span>University of Bath, UK.<\/span><\/p>\n

The study is published in the journal <\/span>Chemical Communications<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fluoride is needed for healthy teeth, but too much of it can weaken bones and cause deformities of the joints and spines, which can be particularly dangerous for children whose bone structures are still developing. Exposure to elevated fluoride has also been linked to reduced IQ in many studies, according to the <\/span>Fluoride Action Network<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Elevated levels of fluoride are found in drinking water sources in parts of East Africa, India, China and North America. This is due to water dissolving fluoride when it passes over certain minerals.<\/span><\/p>\n

While developed countries <\/span>usually have systems in place to monitor and control fluoride levels, that is not the case in parts of the world where there is a lack of piped water or fluoride treatments, such as India and Tanzania, and people are forced to rely on untreated water from wells that can contain higher than recommended levels of fluoride.<\/span><\/p>\n

Levels of fluoride in groundwater fluctuate with the weather, particularly when there\u2019s heavy rain.<\/span><\/p>\n