Ethiopians seek solution for water with fluoride

Millions of Ethiopians suffer from dental fluorosis, a condition caused by drinking water with high fluoride concentration

World Bulletin / News Desk 

Brook Solomon was born and raised in the town of Shashemene, 230 km south of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

Growing up, he drank fluoride-contaminated water.

Now, 23-years-old, he rises early to care for his fluoride-tainted teeth.

“I wake up every morning and give special care to my teeth before going out,” he told Anadolu Agency. “I do this every day.”

Another sufferer, Fitsum Agza, was born and raised in Adama city, some 100 km east of the capital. It is a city that falls in the Ethiopian Great Rift Valley.

“Fluoride-tainted teeth begin to show after one cuts his or her milk teeth and when the permanent teeth grow,” he said. “People think we smoke, looking at our tarnished teeth.”

Like many families in Ethiopia, Brook’s and Fitsum’s condition is a family affair.

“All my sisters have it,” Brook said.

“We (siblings) all have it, but our parents do not,” said Fitsum, suggesting that fluoride affects people who drink contaminated water from childhood onwards.

Both suffer from dental fluorosis, a disease caused by frequent consumption of water with a high concentration of fluoride.

These are only two of the tens of millions of Ethiopians suffering from the ill effects of fluoride, which also deforms bones.

“Fluoride concentration along the rift valley belt is high in areas stretching from Afar state to Wolayta Dimitu in south Ethiopia, where its negative effect is more visible,” said Dr. Aweke Kebede, a nutrition researcher at the Ethiopian Public Health Institute.

Dr. Aweke said the chemical found deep in the earth rises to the surface due to volcanic eruptions; hot springs mix with the available surface water, which people then use.

He said that fluoride chemicals expose Ethiopians who dwell in the rift valley regions to dental fluorosis and skeletal fluorosis -- diseases caused by high levels of consumption of water with fluoride content.

He said the chemical cracks and changes the color of teeth.

“Fluoride also causes bone deformities and fractures,” Aweke said. “Sometimes, excessive intake of fluoride-mix water causes nerve problems, though not directly.”

He said that in areas along the rift valley, the volume of fluoride content is 1.5 to 4 milligrams per liter of water....

Note previous post on levels of fluoride that is toxic.