Santoshi, age 7
Gariya, Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Rama, age 45 suffers from severe joint deformities and has is now blind in one eye. The health problems in the village started 20 years ago. Before that everyone was fine. It has just been getting worse for the last 10 years. Everyone reports having chest pain, chronic stomach pains, a lot of back pain, joint pains, pains in their knees. The Singrauli district in the northeastern part of Madhya Pradesh and Sonbhadra district in Uttar Pradesh was a forested region populated by farmers and laborers. A 2012 report by the Center for Science and Environment based in New Delhi sampled water, soil, cereals in the areas and villages around the reservoir. Most of the drinking water was found not suitable for drinking. The results of the water, soil and fish sample testing indicate pollution due to mercury, arsenic, and fluoride.
Santoshi, age 7, daughter of Kevala and Lale Ram Yadom. Santoshi has brown teeth which is one symptom of too much fluoride in the water. Fluorosis is a defect of tooth enamel caused by too much fluoride intake during the first 6 - 8 years of life. The damage to the enamel is permanent and the teeth become more porous. Fluorosis is a defect of tooth enamel caused by too much fluoride intake during the first 8 years of life. Although fluorosis can be cosmetically treated, the damage to the enamel is permanent. Water tested in this village had high levels of fluoride. According to the UP government, of Sonbhadra's 600 villages, 250 have excessive fluoride in the ground water. 150 of these have levels much above what's permissible.
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