Residents near Charleston, WV, may be suffering from dental erosion because of chemical pollution in drinking water, according to an article in the New York Times.
The front-page article displays the mouth of 7-year-old Ryan Massey with four mandibular metal crowns. Mining companies have repeatedly pumped rinse water from coal cleansing into the soil, and arsenic, lead, chromium, beryllium, nickel, and other pollutants have entered the ground water, according to the Times.
Such pollution is becoming more common around the U.S. because regulatory agencies are lax in enforcing the Clean Water Act, according to the article.
Massey's mother, Jennifer Hall-Massey, had new cavities at a time when the water quality appeared to deteriorate, but his younger brother, who was drinking only bottled water by the time his teeth erupted, suffered no dental problems, the article stated.
Many people in the community have linked dental erosion to the pollution as well as gallbladder disease, rashes, and other health problems, and some are suing the coal companies, the newspaper reported. One company, Peabody Energy, was quoted as saying that it had followed "best industry practices."
Reports of dental damage from environmental pollution are rare, though a handful of articles listed in Medline link pollution to hypomineralization.
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