Drinking plastic everyday? Thanks to teabags
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Cuppa plastic
Plastic tea bags may release millions of micro- and nano-sized particles into your brewed beverage, a study claims.
Possible health effects of ingesting these particles are currently unknown, the study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology noted.
Possible health effects of ingesting these particles are currently unknown, the study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology noted.
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Brewing plastic
To conduct their analysis, the researchers purchased four different commercial teas packaged in plastic teabags.
The researchers cut open the bags, removed the tea leaves and washed the empty bags.
Then, they heated the teabags in containers of water to simulate brewing conditions.
The researchers cut open the bags, removed the tea leaves and washed the empty bags.
Then, they heated the teabags in containers of water to simulate brewing conditions.
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Breaking down
Over time, plastic breaks down into tiny microplastics and even smaller nanoplastics, the latter being less than 100 nanometers (nm) in size.
For comparison, a human hair has a diameter of about 75,000 nm.
For comparison, a human hair has a diameter of about 75,000 nm.
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4/5
More than what you think
Using electron microscopy, the team found that a single plastic teabag at brewing temperature released about 11.6 billion microplastic and 3.1 billion nanoplastic particles into the water.
These levels were thousands of times higher than those reported previously in other foods, researchers said.
These levels were thousands of times higher than those reported previously in other foods, researchers said.
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Probable abnormalities
In another experiment, the team treated water fleas with various doses of the micro- and nanoplastics from teabags.
Although the animals survived, they did show some anatomical and behavioral abnormalities, researchers said.
Although the animals survived, they did show some anatomical and behavioral abnormalities, researchers said.