Algerian desert tea is in danger due to pollutants … and scientists advise “moderation”

The tea drink is very popular in the Algerian desert, where almost all age groups consume it, yet it has not been enough to study, to discuss the reality of the prevailing belief among people that it is a “healthy drink”, a problem that a research team from the University of Qassedi Merbah, Burqla, sought to treat it in its study of its publication. patrol “Food Edgeevs & Connemamins.”

The study was interested in examining tea products in the desert region of Ouargla in Algeria, to verify the presence of any toxic elements and evaluate the health risks of tea consumption regularly, especially when infants and adults.

This study was complementary To another In the same area to assess the “fluoride” rate in tea at stores specialized in selling it.

Flooride is a chemical ion whose presence in the soil, water and minerals is common, and when a person gets it in small quantities, it is useful, especially for dental health, but excessive exposure, especially during early childhood, can lead to dental poisoning with fluoride, a condition that causes the change of teeth color, and in the higher concentrations it can cause health problems such as fluorine fibrosis, as the bones become fragile or solid.

“The result that we concluded from the two studies was the importance of moderation in tea, so that the inherent danger within it remains within the limits of the internationally recommended proportions.”

The researchers discovered in the two studies a presence of fluoride and toxic trace elements of lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury and aluminum, and stressed that the harmful effect of these elements is related to excessive consumption of the tea drink.

4 cups, no more

In the first study, the researchers gathered 36 tea samples from local stores and analyzed fluoride content using a method called spectral alisarin technology (technology that uses alisarin dye in analytical applications, especially in the field of spectral analysis), and they calculated the risk of fluoride that measures potential health risks, as well as the daily estimated income from fluoride based on its consumption.

The researchers found that the consumption of a cup to 4 cups per day causes the average risk of 0.35 to 0.45, which is less than the risk level determined by the American Environmental Protection Agency, and this indicates that typical consumption does not pose a great health threat, according to the environmental protection agency standards.

However, tea is still a great source of fluoride in Ouargla, and the researchers found that its average levels in 75% of the samples were about 2.49 mg/liter, which exceeds the limit recommended by the World Health Organization, which is 1.5 mg/liter for drinking water.

Fluoride intake can reach levels of 104.5% of the daily guidance dose, to those who drink it abundantly (more than 4 cups per day). The study also found that fermentation time greatly affects the release of fluoride, as the longest fermentation times (10-30 minutes) exceed its levels, and black tea contains twice the amount of fluoride in the green type after 10 minutes of fermentation.

“That is, we found in short that while it does not seem that the consumption of typical tea in Ouargla is immediate health risks, it may face Sharp heavily a high exposure to fluoride, especially if they prefer the black type or ferment it for a longer period.”

A different approach to the second study

While the researchers in the first study collected tea samples that were prepared to drink from some commercial centers, in the second study, they collected 78 raw tea samples from local grocery stores, representing different brands of green tea (20 brands) and black tea (6 brands), imported from China and Vietnam, and was stored either in tea or plastic bags.

The weight of each sample was 20 grams, then the researchers prepared it by boiling it in 500 ml of distilled water, the water was filtered and evacuated and digested the remains of tea using nitric acid and potassium hydroxide to dismantle tea compounds and extract any Nizra elements.

The digestion process includes the use of a microwave system, and samples heating to high temperatures in 3 stages to ensure the complete decomposition of tea.

After digestion, tea samples were tested in search of toxic elements such as bullets, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, aluminum and many other elements using a device called the Plasmatic mass associated with research, which is a very sensitive device that can detect even small amounts of these harmful elements.

Perforial recommendation

The results showed that tea samples are contaminated with many toxic elements, such as lead, aluminum, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, and others.

The researchers also found that black tea is the most contaminated with heavy metals, and tea samples in tea bags were more polluted than those in plastic bags, especially with arsenic, aluminum and manganese.

And evaluate the health risks resulting from this tea regularly, then calculated the risk index, which is a measure of potential risks, and they found that the indicator in adults was 0.28, and this indicates a decrease in risks, but in infants it was 1.33, and this means the need to take regular tea consumption in infants as a possible source of health risks, and that its consumption between them must be reduced to avoid health risks associated with pollutants Metal.

This corresponds to the results of similar studies conducted in the provinces of Yunnan and Fujian in China, where the danger index associated with tea consumption was also less than 1 in adults.

Moderation and then moderation

Although the risk of trace elements appears to be reassured in adults, Kardon indicates the same recommendation that the study of fluoride, which is moderation, came out.

“The moderate risk index is based on regular consumption, but at the same time it is not excessive, as more than 4 cups per day can cause a risk to health,” he says.

All the elements that followed negative effects on health causes if they exceed the permissible proportions, but the most dangerous is lead that can cause cancer and mental delay in children.

“There is a rule that says (everything is poisonous … and everything is not toxic), and this means that with excessive it can even become the permissible elements.”