Beware! Tea Bags Release Billions Of Harmful Microplastics, Finds Study

New Delhi: If tea is the most preferred aromatic beverage globally, tea bags are popular as they offer a convenient tea-drinking experience. Just dip in warm water or milk, and enjoy the brew.

However, the findings of a recent study should serve as a warning to those who use tea bags to satisfy their craving for the hot beverage.

It has been found that the material used for the outer layer of tea bags can have a negative impact on health. Commercial tea bags, made of polymer-based material, release millions of nanoplastics and microplastics when infused and release millions of microplastics when in use.

The study, conducted by scientists at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), says that food packaging is a major source of micro and nanoplastic (MNPL) contamination. What is dangerous is that inhalation and ingestion are the main routes of human exposure.

These nanoplastic and microplastic particles can be absorbed by human intestinal cells, therefore there is a high probability of these reaching the bloodstream and spreading throughout the body.

Micro and nanoplastics from multiple types of commercially available tea bags have been successfully characterised by scientists.

Researchers at UAB have observed that when tea bags are used to prepare an infusion, huge amounts of nano-sized particles and nanofilamentous structures are released, and are an important source of exposure to MNPLs.

Tea bags which were used for the research were made from nylon-6, polypropylene and cellulose.

When brewing tea, polypropylene releases approximately 1.2 billion particles per millilitre with an average size of 136.7 nanometres; cellulose releases around 135 million particles per millilitre with an average size of 244 nanometres; and nylon-6 releases 8.18 million particles per millilitre with an average size of 138.4 nanometres.

“We have managed to innovatively characterise these pollutants with a set of cutting-edge techniques, which is a very important tool to advance research on their possible impacts on human health,” UAB microbiologist Alba Garcia-Rodriguez said.