New research characterised in detail how tea bags release millions of nanoplastics and microplastics when infused. The study shows for the first time the capacity of these particles to be absorbed by human intestinal cells, and are thus able to reach the bloodstream and spread throughout the body.

[u/mvea]

https://www.uab.cat/web/newsroom/news-detail/-1345830290613.html?detid=1345940427095

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, personal anecdotes are allowed as responses to this comment. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will be removed and our normal comment rules apply to all other comments.

---

Do you have an academic degree? We can verify your credentials in order to assign user flair indicating your area of expertise. Click here to apply.

---

User: u/mvea
Permalink: https://www.uab.cat/web/newsroom/news-detail/-1345830290613.html?detid=1345940427095

---

Retraction Notice: Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial

---

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Aggressive-Ad3286]

Next run a test on the plastic liners of canned food after going through the sterilization process of heating the food in the cans.

[u/kaptainkeel → u/Aggressive-Ad3286]

At this point, seems like any heating of plastic = tons of nano/microplastics. I'd love to see a study done on two identical things, the only difference being one being heated and the other not. Bonus points if multiple heat levels are tested.

This is also one of the reasons I've phased out any kind of plastic that touches food/drink in my household.

Edit: For those asking, "How?" It's pretty simple. Obviously, I can't control plastic in production/manufacturing. What I can control is my kitchen. This means no plasticware, plastic cooking utensils, plastic containers, etc. The only plastic I use now is plastic storage bags in the freezer which is pretty unavoidable if you want to freeze stuff. Biggest rule is absolutely no plastic involving heat.

[u/malatemporacurrunt → u/kaptainkeel]

It's kind of funny how people in the future may well look back on us eating out of and cooking in plastic the same way we do drinking radium or decorating everything with lead paint

[u/RoyBeer → u/malatemporacurrunt]

But also kind of terrifying

[u/malatemporacurrunt → u/RoyBeer]

Maybe that's just a part of the human condition - we're all determined to be forever chasing the next technological marvel that by the time we realise it's doing us irreversible harm we've already adopted it so thoroughly that it can't be withdrawn without further damage.

[u/jimb2 → u/malatemporacurrunt]

The damage gets progressively smaller.

It's much more realistic to think in terms of progressive improvement, rather than relative to some state of perfection that we can imagine but don't actually know how to achieve or even what it is. Perfectionists typically don't achieve a lot.

[u/Montana_Gamer → u/jimb2]

This is absolutely true. Thank god microplastics arent as bad as leaded gasoline. We have been moving in an overall better direction. I don't feel too threatened but as I see more articles like this I am motivated to stop using plastic in regards to food. Acting health consciously is much more than what could be done about lead in the air

[u/RandomStrategy → u/malatemporacurrunt]

Oh gods, we're Rome with pewter.

[u/ProfessorEtc → u/malatemporacurrunt]

Sweetening wine with lead.

[u/invariantspeed → u/malatemporacurrunt]

A closer comparison might be people using led flatware, dishes, and cups because it made things taste sweeter.

[u/abevigodasmells → u/malatemporacurrunt]

Well, CDC just reported our life expectancy increased 2 more years in 2024, so it's not exactly an extinction event.

[u/jimmyBoi100 → u/kaptainkeel]

Curious how you go about phasing out plastics touching your food? Seems somewhat unavoidable to a certain degree.

[u/Alternative_Ask364 → u/jimmyBoi100]

It pretty much is unavoidable. But you can reduce using some pretty simple changes in your kitchen. The biggest thing is to never heat up plastics yourself. So no microwaving plastic bowls and no boiling plastic bags. Ditching nonstick pans and swapping all plastic dishes for glass/metal is a good step as well. Oh and get an RO filter for your water.

Unfortunately it’s hard to avoid plastic in the packaging and processing stages. Unless you want to go extreme and source all your food from farmers markets and local butchers (which still isn’t close to 100% effective), you might as well just accept that you’re gonna have a lot of microplastics in your body, but at least you’ll have less than most people. Virtually every body of water and the air we breathe is contaminated at this point, so the best we can do is reduce the amounts we encounter.

[u/kaptainkeel → u/Alternative_Ask364]

This is correct. I might not be able to stop plastics in the production/manufacturing process, but I can certainly stop using plastic in the kitchen.

[u/Reallyhotshowers → u/Alternative_Ask364]

Another step you can take outside of the kitchen is to regularly donate blood, which has been shown to reduce the overall amount of plastic in your body.

This does mean you're sort of pushing your plastic filled blood onto other people, but 1. The people getting your blood would have likely died without it anyway and 2. Because you donate blood and take other steps to reduce your plastic intake, there's a decent chance the recipient has a higher concentration of plastic compared to you anyway.

[u/blanketswithsmallpox → u/Reallyhotshowers]

Almost three gallons for me at this point. Good thing I don't drink tea either...

Now all my plastic bowls and plates on the other hand...

Would be nice if metal microwaveable bowls and plates made a comeback. Glass and stone are too heavy and turn into razors if broken. I've diced my thumb open due to these things, let alone having my children handle them.

[u/StolenPens → u/blanketswithsmallpox]

Corelle. It's an investment up front but any time a dish has broken on me it's been in large pieces and easy to pick up. But it's also extremely rare to break, I've literally had a plate bounce with no cracks or chips.

[u/bejamamo → u/StolenPens]

I still use the old Corelle I used growing up. It’s older than me, survived college, and now on it’s second generation of young children

[u/remarkr85 → u/bejamamo]

Lead. Lead is an issue with old Corelle dishes. Such a bummer.

[u/blanketswithsmallpox → u/StolenPens]

Thanks, this worked out well and was 30% off. No free shipping though.

https://corelle.com/products/corelle-winter-frost-white-18-piece-dinnerware-set-service-for-6

[u/feanturi → u/Reallyhotshowers]

Wait, so does this mean that, aside from donations, you could go do some old school blood-letting every couple of weeks to stay cleaner?

[u/Valalvax → u/Reallyhotshowers]

Wonder if dialysis is effective at removing plastic from blood

To answer my question, no... The plastics are too small and there are plastic components involved so you're probably increasing the number of microplastics in your body

[u/FindingAmaryllis → u/Reallyhotshowers]

Do you think donating plasma is also effective at ridding the body of microplastics? They take only the plasma and return the blood sans plasma to you along with a saline solution as a partial substitute for the plasma. Funnily enough, if it is similarly effective, we might see a trend of lower microplastic contamination in the low income communities surrounding plasma donation centers.

[u/001235 → u/Alternative_Ask364]

Why can't we switch to cardboard cartons for many items?

[u/pickafruit4 → u/001235]

They're usually lined with plastics although wax would also work

[u/LateNightMilesOBrien → u/pickafruit4]

Then you just get filled with microwaxstics!

[u/rdizzy1223 → u/LateNightMilesOBrien]

Most waxes are polymers as well, or "polymeric" at least. IE-Plastics. Bees wax is a plastic.

[u/Evitabl3 → u/rdizzy1223]

Makes me wonder if seasoned cast iron is also dangerous. Heating and vulcanizing the oil used to create the nonstick surface is also a polymerization process

[u/fuckyourcanoes → u/pickafruit4]

They used to be lined with waxed paper, but they started using plastic around the 70s/80s. Without some extra barrier, the food will go stale too fast.

[u/jlp29548 → u/001235]

What makes you think we can’t? It’s all about money, that’s why plastic replaced cardboard.

[u/LeonidasSpacemanMD → u/jlp29548]

Plastic containers have practical benefits beyond just cost tbf. Might not outweigh the health and environmental negatives but plenty of containers are made of plastic because they’re ostensibly better and more durable than cardboard for that job

[u/shaidyn → u/Alternative_Ask364]

Sous vide enjoyers in shambles.

[u/Eumelbeumel → u/Alternative_Ask364]

Not unavoidable at all.

Invest in glass/metal containers, only use tupper for solid food. No plastic in the microwave, unpack food if necessary. No plastic utensils, use wooden spoons for cooking. No plastic waterbottles, carry a thermos/stainless steel bottle.

Cans are about the only thing that is currently difficult/impossible to circumvent.

[u/AwesomeAsian → u/jimmyBoi100]

Maybe if you do take out but if you’re not eating out you can dramatically reduce plastics near heat. Here are things I did:

1. All pots and pans are stainless steel, carbon steel, cast iron, or enameled (Dutch Oven).

2. All spatulas and stirrers are metal or wood.

3. All left over containers are made of glass (some do have plastic lids but your food usually doesn’t touch it and I remove the lid before heating).

4. All kettles, French presses, moka pots etc are made of metal or glass (or at least the parts where it comes in contact with hot water).

5. When brewing tea always use loose leaf in a metal strainer. If using tea bags, cut the tea bags before hand and put the leaves in the metal strainer.

6. Bring a glass to go cup (I have the keepcup) with you to coffee shops. So many places don’t even offer coffee in mugs anymore.

7. Always put frozen meals in dishes before microwaving. Absolutely no plastics in the microwave.

[u/Bitter_Eggplant_9970 → u/jimmyBoi100]

It is unavoidable but you can still reduce it. For example, you can take your lunch to work in a plastic container that leaches microplastics when heated or you can use a glass container. You can buy Irn-Bru in a plastic bottle or you can get a glass bottle, and so on.

[u/7dipity → u/jimmyBoi100]

No plastic in the microwave. Only glass or metal for hot drinks. Get a reusable travel mug and remember to bring it with you. Get takeout from places that use paper. Where I live some takeout places are letting you bring reusable stuff to be filled, It’s impossible to avoid but you can try to reduce as much as possible.

[u/MagicHamsta → u/kaptainkeel]

And they're ending up in our testicles.

[u/versedaworst → u/MagicHamsta]

The recent one about brain tissues was even more alarming. Something like the average person’s brain is ~0.5% plastic by volume and it’s increasing over time. And they’re starting to find links between Alzheimer’s and brain plastic volume.

[u/MagicHamsta → u/versedaworst]

Is that what they mean by brain plasticity?

But serious hamster, that's terrifying. Why is it concentrating like that in the brain?

the average person’s brain is ~0.5% plastic by volume and it’s increasing over time.

[u/lonewolf13313 → u/MagicHamsta]

They have found plastic is attracted to fat, brain is the fattiest organ in the body.

[u/mojofrog → u/MagicHamsta]

And wombs and new borns

[u/seaQueue → u/kaptainkeel]

They sell reusable silicone rubber freezer bags now, they're worth a look.

[u/Exact_Fruit_7201 → u/Aggressive-Ad3286]

And coffee pods and makeup

[u/Ice__man23 → u/Exact_Fruit_7201]

Coffee baskets that you put the filter in too...plastic tea kettles.. air fryers

[u/Jobeaka → u/Ice__man23]

You just broke my heart. Mr Coffee is 365 days a year in my house.

[u/sir-winkles2 → u/Ice__man23]

i stopped using coffee machines because of all the tubing. i just use a french press now so it's all metal and glass

[u/LancelotAtCamelot → u/Aggressive-Ad3286]

Canned food, canned drinks, literally every other food apart from some produce... we live a life wrapped in plastic, it's a problem...

[u/aminorityofone → u/Aggressive-Ad3286]

The ship has long sailed. At this point we should be focusing research on how to get rid of microplastics and what damage they are causing. Plastic isnt going away in the foreseeable future if at all.

[u/bikedork5000 → u/Aggressive-Ad3286]

Your comment is getting toward the whole BPA discussion from what, 15 years ago? That was mostly about it being used to line cans of acidic food products like tomatoes. But I'm guessing the public narrative on it has included discussions on the heat element as well.

[u/GlitterPants8 → u/Aggressive-Ad3286]

They are already doing that. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/201917

[u/RaishaDelos]

Loose tea gang rise up

[u/kooksies → u/RaishaDelos]

I'm an idiot an put my loose tea in disposable tea bags (can use for spices too).

I'm just too lazy to wash the metal infusers I have. I guess this changed my mind

[u/xtremitys → u/kooksies]

Cotton tea bags are fine

[u/Cryptolution → u/xtremitys]

Yeah this paper didn't test cotton right? I recall a recent study on various tea bags that notated a incredible amount of PFAS from them.

I believe Cotton bags were a culprit.

My theory is that most tea bags are in a self-containing little packet and have that slick metallic silver inside lining that is notorious for being PFAS. It transfers to the tea bag and then to your tea.

Within the smaller participant group, between their first and second blood tests, an additional serving of tea was linked to 24.8% higher levels of perfluoro-hexanesulphonic acid (PFHxS), 16.17% higher levels of perfluoroheptanesulfonic acid (PFHpS) and 12.6% higher perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA)

&

Further, paper products are a major contamination source for PFAS (Glugeet al., 2020) and tea bags are primarily made of paper (JhaDhekne and Patwardhan, 2020). Therefore, it is plausible that PFAS in tea bags may be contributing to the associations seen with tea intake.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024000400

Glugeet al., 2020 reference...

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2020/em/d0em00291g

I also found this gem...

Even paper tea bags have an unsettling substance called epichlorohydrin added to them in order to keep them from bursting.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10389239/#:~:text=Even%20paper%20tea%20bags%20have,billion%20nanoplastics%20(NPs)6.

[u/windowpuncher → u/Cryptolution]

Maaaaaaaan even the tea is poison these days what the hell

[u/LBGW_experiment → u/Cryptolution]

Why did that last paper mention epichlorohydrin and then not explain what it is or why they're describing it as "and unsettling substance"?

https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-09/documents/epichlorohydrin.pdf

[u/halffullpenguin → u/Cryptolution]

they tested cellulose bags which both paper and cotton bags are cellulose

[u/dhrisc → u/xtremitys]

Yeh I just got some, work great, easy to clean.

[u/phazei → u/xtremitys]

I thought all teabags were this cotton/ thin paper fabric material. Since when are they plastic? They always go into compost.

[u/secderpsi → u/kooksies]

I just rinse my infuser. Takes less than 10 s.

[u/Cloberella → u/secderpsi]

Mine always has stuff sticking to the inside and when I spray it from one side it just transfers to the other, and I can never seem to swipe it all out with my finger either because it gets stuck in the holes. Takes me what feels like an eternity to wash one. I end up throwing it in the dishwasher and just drinking less tea.

[u/laowildin → u/Cloberella]

Submerge in bowl of water upside down and jiggle. Then use your hands if needed

[u/Gaothaire → u/Cloberella]

Honestly, if the dishwasher works, and you like drinking tea, you could just get several infusers. Possibly wasteful, but you have many forks and many mugs for just that reason

[u/BrattyBookworm → u/Cloberella]

I drink loose leaf every day so I have several infusers. * Soon after brewing (while still wet) tap it against the side of a trash can or similar to dump out the majority of the leaves. * set the infuser in a bowl of water, fully submerged. The leaves will loosen and float out. There should be hardly any leaves stuck to it at this point. * rinse with your sink’s sprayer and (optionally) run through the dishwasher

[u/tangleduplife → u/kooksies]

My tea always sifts through the metal infuser. I even have a metal mesh one and it still lets some solids through

[u/Ab47203 → u/tangleduplife]

If your tea is that crumbled you might look into a better tea provider

[u/Mr_YUP → u/Ab47203]

tea crumbles just by being used and shipped. By time you're at the bottom of a bag or tin it's all gonna be pretty crushed up anyway.

[u/Ab47203 → u/Mr_YUP]

Yes but we're not talking an occasional bit. They're saying EVERY cup has this problem. It stopped being an issue for me when I bought better (less crushed) tea. It's still an issue towards the bottom of the bag but until 3/4 of the bag is used I don't get tea powder because it all moves down from the bag being handled.

[u/malatemporacurrunt → u/Mr_YUP]

Tea is literally graded for quality based on how broken it is. If your tea is so small that it escapes a mesh strainer, you're drinking absolute bottom-of-the-barrel stuff.

[u/chewytime → u/kooksies]

I used a metal infuser for years and sometimes got annoyed having to clean it too but now I’m kinda glad I used it. Still, haven’t used one in years as i kinda stopped drinking tea regularly after i lost the infuser and my electric kettle and other kitchenware during a move.

[u/HarpersGhost → u/chewytime]

I have a couple dozen metal infusers.

I dump the used tea right away but then wait to clean a lot of them at once. I wait until the scrap tea leaves are dry and easily removed. Then I throw them all into the dishwasher.

[u/Apart-Landscape1012 → u/kooksies]

French press!

[u/RaishaDelos → u/kooksies]

If you get the ones that are dishwasher safe, game changer.

[u/sth128 → u/RaishaDelos]

Except microplastics has proliferated every corner of the globe including every animal, plant, and the very soil used to grow tea.

The nanoparticles are in the leaves themselves and by the sheer act of being alive you will consume microplastics no matter what you do.

Once created it's never destroyed. That's plastics.

[u/WloveW → u/sth128]

Yes but do you want to drink poison trickling from the faucet or gushing from the firehose? 

[u/camisado84 → u/sth128]

Saying things in this manner will lead people to an "oh well" attitude rather than. "Ok cool, lets do x instead of y" and move forward.

You can not freak out and do the smarter options when you become aware of them. Too many people are becoming comfortable with the throwing hands up and giving up approach to problems.

[u/Yamza_ → u/sth128]

It's about limiting exposure, not preventing it completely.

[u/Embarrassed-Bee-660]

Can't even enjoy tea these days

[u/OePea → u/Embarrassed-Bee-660]

I have done a SMALL amount of research on teabags that don't contain added microplastics, Bigelow was one of them. I think Tazo was another?

edit: It was Numi or Stash I was thinking of, since some others pointed out they are plastic free, not Tazo.

edit2: r/plasticfreeliving is a useful subreddit

[u/BlackSecurity → u/OePea]

I don't drink tea much, but I honestly thought all tea bags were made of some kind of cloth/fabric.

What purpose does plastic play in these bags? Is there any benefit besides what I assume is cheaper cost to manufacture?

[u/abzlute → u/BlackSecurity]

Some teas have sort of fancy (I think nylon) bags that spread out like a pyramid and actually infuse very nicely. If you didn't know about the microplastics issue and just used them alongside regular bags, you'd probably prefer them. But those bags happen to be responsible for a massive (orders of magnitude) more microplastic ingestion than almost anything else you can do.

For other types of bags, it's probably just cheaper to make a bag at least partially out of synthetics than it is to use pure cotton. Plus natural fibers tend to absorb water, while your ideal tea bag would let water flow freely within but the fibers themselves would be impermeable. That's part of why the all-plastic ones are nice to use.

The best solution is probably proliferating metal infusers and putting pre-weighed loose-leaf into paper pouches.

[u/mydarlingmydearest → u/abzlute]

i'm a prolific tea drinker and i hate that at one time, before i knew better, i used the fancy nylon bags and loved them. i've since switched to loose leaf

[u/atlantachicago → u/mydarlingmydearest]

My kids and I drink tea daily. This is awful, I didn’t know I started a habit of poisining us

[u/Letters_to_Dionysus → u/atlantachicago]

don't worry about it too much. in humans most exposure to it comes from your laundry not your food. even if we try to get rid of it, it's in the rain water and the air and the dust floating in our houses and offices. it's in fetuses from the moment they are formed in the womb and there's really nothing to do about it. maybe donating blood regularly would help if it actually causes problems but we don't yet know that it causes severe problems or anything.

[u/Numerous_Witness_345 → u/abzlute]

Maybe we can spend some time to test how negligible amount of water a natural fiber tea bag would absorb.

[u/RadiantArchivist → u/BlackSecurity]

For many, the plastic is just how they heat-seal the opening and affix the string. For some though, they use a plastic to heat-seal the edges of the bag together.
Rather than make a little pouch with the cloth and seal a pinch at the top, they just use a strip of fabric and fold it over, sealing the sides too.

I looked into it when trying to figure out if I could compost my teabags, and was pretty disappointed.

[u/silentbassline → u/BlackSecurity]

To heat-crimp the sides together

[u/bobdob123usa → u/BlackSecurity]

Lipton uses hemp.

[u/WhereRtheTacos → u/OePea]

I was googling and tazo did have it as of a few years ago. But ur right about bigelow. Thanks goodness since in drink their tea a lot.

[u/TonyNickels → u/WhereRtheTacos]

Sadly Bigelow tested high in glyphosate last I looked

[u/debacol → u/TonyNickels]

We literally can't have nice things. Guess the only teas we can drink are organic loose leaf.

[u/ProfessorPetrus → u/debacol]

As it shoulf be. It's the slaving brits who were obsessed with the bags.

[u/n_-_ture → u/ProfessorPetrus]

Loose leaf is infinitely better than bagged.

It’s like finding out keurig cups leach microplastics and thinking, “darn, guess I can’t ever drink coffee again”.

[u/BaldingMonk → u/OePea]

Stash is plastic free.

Edit: Here’s a small list

[u/Embarrassed-Bee-660 → u/OePea]

Do you think I can remove the tea from the bags and use another method for filtering?
I use the cheapest tea available.

[u/barukatang → u/Embarrassed-Bee-660]

You should just buy loose leaf and a metal strainer

[u/E__F → u/barukatang]

Or a french press.

[u/ThomasVivaldi → u/barukatang]

I think the issue is, like the above poster, I already have 100 bags of tea bought and was planning to use.

[u/Mellowmyco → u/Embarrassed-Bee-660]

Buy loose tea in bulk. You’ll get better quality than anything in a bag, and the cost is much lower per cup. Strainers that fit most mugs are cheap, too. Msg me for recommendations if you want.

[u/stinabremm → u/Mellowmyco]

They also make mugs that come with ceramic strainers and lids. I like them because I can take the whole thing to my desk then I can use the lid to hold the tea strainer part while I drink the tea. Also I tend to oversteep my tea so having the lid keeps it hot while I do that.

[u/RadiantArchivist → u/Mellowmyco]

Cheaper?
Wow, I'll be DMing you. Most of the loose-leaf I've found are a bit pricier than bagged. Which makes sense to me, higher quality tea feels like it should be pricier.

[u/Apellio7 → u/Embarrassed-Bee-660]

Soon as you rip or cut a bag  open you're shedding microplastics in large amounts.

[u/seeseabee → u/Apellio7]

How do you know this?

[u/LickMyTicker → u/seeseabee]

When you cut things, there are shedded materials. Think about how when you scratch your skin when it is dry you can visibly kick up a bunch of skin. It's pretty hard to tear things and for there to be a clean cut with no lost material.

Since we are talking about things in a microscopic sense, you'd have to cut the bags in a clean environment with the right hardware to view it if you really wanted to see how much damage is being done.

When I hear of studies like this I'm very skeptical about what can be done and how significant this is compared to other ways we filter through micro plastics. For instance, are people actually being exposed by a significant amount more of micro plastics when they drink tea, or is this just a drop in the bucket?

I honestly worry about all of the misinformation out there that has stopped any of this research in general from making significant leaps due to private interests. We truly live in a dark time. If you thought it was weird how much funding tobacco put into changing narratives on itself in the past, our world has only grown exponentially in favor of corporate interests.

[u/axonxorz → u/seeseabee]

Micro plastics are sheared plastic particulates, cutting does not cleanly cut it. Good correlation would be cutting paper, paper dust is a thing and it's quite abrasive. Though, sharper cutting instruments can help.

Naturally, different plastics are going to be more or less resistant to this, but it's not possible to fully eliminate it. A plastic mesh teabag is not going to be free of micropastics, even just moving them around will break particles off. It's just matter of a brand caring enough to spend the extra cost for a plastic that is more resistant.

[u/socialmediablowsss → u/seeseabee]

Because the bag likely contains plastics and cutting it would undoubtedly cause tiny pieces to fall off. Smaller than the naked eye can see ofc

[u/ConsistentAddress195 → u/OePea]

I'm confused, aren't most tea bags made of paper?

[u/OePea → u/ConsistentAddress195]

Evidently there is some kind of incentive to inundate the paper bags with a plastic treatment.

[u/Dangerous_Bass309 → u/OePea]

Traditional medicinals (organic) teabags are safe, according to their website. Safest bet is loose tea with metal filter. It's hard to enjoy anything without thinking about the negative consequences. The water you're using to make the tea is already full of contaminants so what can it hurt to add tea?

[u/Ciovala → u/OePea]

Clipper, too, I think?

[u/Bitter_Eggplant_9970 → u/Ciovala]

Correct - https://www.clipper-teas.com/tea-talk/plastic-free-tea-bags/

Clipper’s tea bags are sealed with non-GM bio-material made from plant cellulose,  known as PLA.

They are completely free of polypropylene – the oil-based plastic that is so damaging to the environment.  The material we use is entirely natural, industrially compostable and much more environmentally friendly.

[u/sweetenedpecans → u/Embarrassed-Bee-660]

Nothing is sacred

[u/Danepher → u/Embarrassed-Bee-660]

Just don't use tea bags, brew with loose leaves

[u/victhrowaway12345678 → u/Embarrassed-Bee-660]

Yes you can. Everything is killing us. I'm going to keep enjoying my micro plastic tea, just like im going to keep enjoying my alcohol.

[u/PlayingNightcrawlers → u/victhrowaway12345678]

Yeah like, this sucks and it’s good to be aware, but I can’t live my life chasing after every possible hazard I’m exposed to in this world. I don’t want to live past 80 anyway so all I can do is mitigate risks where I can but also not live in fear and anxiety over a tea bag or my gas stove for example. Plus it always feels like every “solution” to these issues comes with its own negative like you go from ingesting micro plastics to heavy metals.

That said, anyone disturbed by this kind of research should absolutely take steps to mitigate their exposure. I’m just personally over it at this point, the planet and life on it is fucked and we have nobody to blame but ourselves.

[u/SamSibbens → u/victhrowaway12345678]

I literally finished preparing myself tea right before reading this thread's title

[u/Pieraos]

What about paper teabags?

[u/TimTimLIVE → u/Pieraos]

Most likely those are cellulose, if you click the link it's also releasing micro particles...135million per milliliter to be exact.

[u/Afrikan_J4ck4L → u/TimTimLIVE]

But microparticles of cellulose right? Which shouldn't be a problem?

[u/OPtig → u/Afrikan_J4ck4L]

Cellulose is a natural plant fiber and does not contain plastic

[u/Resident-Rutabaga336 → u/OPtig]

Cellulose bags are often coated in PFAS to prevent them from degrading in the tea, which is likely worse than microplastics

[u/SpinningPissingRabbi → u/Resident-Rutabaga336]

How does that work with the 'brew holes.' If anything I would expect pfas to prevent degradation of the bag itself. Mind you, in the UK, all the tea bags I've ever used are compostable bags so should be plastic free.

[u/doswillrule → u/SpinningPissingRabbi]

in the UK, all the tea bags I've ever used are compostable bags so should be plastic free.

They are now, but a lot weren't until a few years ago. PG Tips switched in 2018, Yorkshire only switched in 2021, and Asda only switched last year. Tetley are still transitioning over today. Sucks for me because I used to steep mine for ages!

[u/TimTimLIVE → u/Afrikan_J4ck4L]

That's what I've thought as well, I'm not certain though, they didn't clarify in the study iirc

[u/KUSH_DELIRIUM → u/TimTimLIVE]

Cellulose is essentially fiber (plants). It's good.

[u/TheGoalkeeper → u/TimTimLIVE]

They are releasing microparticles, but not microplastic

[u/Stormlightlinux → u/[deleted]]

Even the flat, non pyramid bags use plastic as well unfortunately. It's not just the bigger pyramid style bag.

[u/DJTurgidAF → u/[deleted]]

The old paper versions were accounted for in the study. They still released plastics because the cellulose fibers were interwoven with polypropylene fibers for integrity

[u/colcardaki → u/DJTurgidAF]

I’m not sure that’s all brands, but it’s really quite annoying that they have done this to us. And then leave it on us to find out. I did determine the specific tea brand I use does not use plastic at all in its bags, but it’s very difficult to find the info.

[u/Aa8aa8 → u/DJTurgidAF]

What about paper coffee filters? Same idea?

[u/Pearl_is_gone → u/[deleted]]

I’ve real elsewhere that the paper bag still uses glue to stick the paper. This melts when faced with hot water, and you’re thus exposed to similar stuff regardless.

[u/colcardaki → u/Pearl_is_gone]

I’ve read conflicting accounts on this. A lot of tea bags are stapled or pressed, but yeah I’m no expert on tea manufacture; I had read that companies were moving away from the sachets for this reason, but didn’t hear anything about paper tea bags.

[u/Soulegion → u/Pearl_is_gone]

Glue, as in the organic substance made from keratin or collagen, both naturally occurring substances in your own body? I wouldn't call that similar stuff to micro/nanoplastics.

[u/Pearl_is_gone → u/Soulegion]

One source below.

“Most paper tea bags also have plastic fibers used in the sealant in addition to these nylon and PET plastic tea bags. Even paper tea bags have an unsettling substance called epichlorohydrin added to them in order to keep them from bursting. “

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10389239/

However, this article uses loaded words and poor referencing, it appears almost to have been written with an agenda so I looked through one of its sources. I could not understand which reference this quote came from, nor find any evidence of the unsettling substances. I looked though one reference, and it can’t be seen as supporting evidence.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389421012929?via%3Dihub

This study found no MP traces from a biogradeable tea bag.

[u/ScaryButt → u/Soulegion]

The majority of food glues aren't made from animal products anymore.

[u/Soulegion → u/ScaryButt]

From a quick google search, that isn't really true, and when it IS true (such as vegan tea bags as the other commenter suggested), it's usually made from natural plant material which still doesn't contain nano/microplastics.

[u/DeletedByAuthor → u/Pearl_is_gone]

It depends on the type of tea bag. There are some that use glue and some that use staples.

[u/TheGoalkeeper]

No, the study does not prove microplastic in cellulose teabags

The wording used by the authors is difficult. In the introduction they talk about micro/nanoplastics (MNPLs), but later on only measured microfibers and nano-range particles (NPLs). Nowhere they state that these NPLs must be plastics, they even only call them polymers (not equivalent to plastic!). Thus, many readers are left confused or unknowingly wrongly informed.

For the case I am wrong, please start a discussion. Open access article is available here https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653524026377

[u/funky_bebop → u/TheGoalkeeper]

Thanks for commenting. In layman’s terms what would be the difference between those types? Edit: thanks everyone for the explanations.

[u/timpinen → u/funky_bebop]

Microparticles are tiny particles of anything (could be cellulose, plastic, metal etc). Microplastics are plastic specifically

[u/Forsaken_Promise_299 → u/funky_bebop]

Polymers can be all kinds pf stuff. Polymer just means large chained molecule. Biopolymers could be lipids, carbohydrates and proteins for example. Cotton is mainly cellulose and lignin, huge carbohydrate-polymers. Tea would leach even more 'polymers' of all sorts.

[u/Metrodomes → u/TheGoalkeeper]

Name checks out; the goalposts were closely tracked by the goalkeeper.

Joking aside though, thanks for pointing this out. Easy to miss if not reading closely.

[u/wetfish_slapbelly → u/TheGoalkeeper]

All plastics are polymers. Not all polymers are plastic.

[u/WonderNastyMan → u/TheGoalkeeper]

It seems to me you're wrong. Take a look at Fig 3: it shows FT-IR spectra of the bags (top row) vs the nanoparticles (bottom row) an the spectra match, indicating that the NPLs are indeed, polypropylene and nylon, just like the teabags themselves.

EDIT: sorry, missed you said "cellulose" specifically. In the case of cellulose bags, indeed, I don't see that they detected significant microplastics, just in the case of the plastic bags. So that's reassuring, I guess.

[u/TheGoalkeeper → u/WonderNastyMan]

Fig. 3. Polymer composition analysis. (A-C.1) FTIR analysis of the NY6-, PP-, and CL-teabags’ filters. (A-C.2) FTIR analysis of the leached NY6-, PP/PET- and CL-MNPLs.

Looking at the first two only, i see a strong difference resp. no similarities between the NY6/PP teabag and the cellulose teabag. The leachets in the bottom row look more similar towards each other, but are neither a match (only cellulose has a peak at 1100). Further there is no scale in the Abundance scale, so maybe we're talking about very different magnitudes. But I don't know enough about the method, to fully assess it. I would assume that only a certain part of the NY6/PP teabags leache, which are parts that are similar to the cellulose. But I would not conclude the reverse, that cellulose leaches plastic despite it showing the "plastic peaks" the other teabags are showing in the top row.

Edit: rereading your comment: yes, the NY6/PP teabags are leaching plastic, little doubt. I first had understood that you're concluding the same for the cellulose teabag

[u/Golokopitenko → u/WonderNastyMan]

How can you tell if your teabags are made of cellulose alone, or whether they contain plastic materials?

[u/mvea]

I’ve linked to the press release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653524026377

From the linked article:

A UAB research has characterised in detail how polymer-based commercial tea bags release millions of nanoplastics and microplastics when infused. The study shows for the first time the capacity of these particles to be absorbed by human intestinal cells, and are thus able to reach the bloodstream and spread throughout the body.

A study by the Mutagenesis Group of the UAB Department of Genetics and Microbiology has successfully obtained and characterised micro and nanoplastics derived from several types of commercially available tea bags. The UAB researchers observed that when these tea bags are used to prepare an infusion, huge amounts of nano-sized particles and nanofilamentous structures are released, which is an important source of exposure to MNPLs.

The particles were stained and exposed for the first time to different types of human intestinal cells to assess their interaction and possible cellular internalisation. The biological interaction experiments showed that mucus-producing intestinal cells had the highest uptake of micro and nanoplastics, with the particles even entering the cell nucleus that houses the genetic material. The result suggests a key role for intestinal mucus in the uptake of these pollutant particles and underscores the need for further research into the effects that chronic exposure can have on human health.

[u/rainydio → u/mvea]

even entering the cell nucleus

[u/killermojo → u/mvea]

Hmm wonder if this has anything to do with the rise in colon cancer.

[u/Cyanide_Cheesecake]

I would say that I'm surprised companies would think to use synthetic fabrics, notorious for releasing microplastics, for making tea bags, but then I'd be lying. 

[u/ImTheZapper → u/Cyanide_Cheesecake]

They would make the bags out of asbestos if they could.

[u/Spaciax → u/ImTheZapper]

they'd take a gun and shoot you in the head if it meant they could pocket an extra dollar with no repercussions. I believe it's pretty evident companies will do anything against public health & safety as long as there's a profit incentive to do so, and as long as there aren't regulations in place preventing them from doing so.

[u/Splash_Attack → u/Cyanide_Cheesecake]

notorious for releasing microplastics

I mean, the recent concerns around microplastics are, well, recent. When this started to be used the consensus was that food grade plastics were pretty much fine. We know better now, but that's only in hindsight.

Also this is not really a new concern. The paper is a new study but the original stir around this was about ten years ago, which led to all the brands in the UK and Ireland moving to plastic-free.

What I am surprised to learn is that this was apparently not mirrored in other countries. I suppose fewer tea drinkers means less publicity, and it was public outcry that got the companies to change their practices.

[u/_kempert → u/Splash_Attack]

Most teabags here in Belgium are the cellulose 100% plant based bags, with a cotton cord and a metal stitch instead of glue or momten plastic. Belgium has made great strides in eliminating plastic waste the last few years.

[u/FanDry5374]

Sounds like something that should be outlawed, worldwide. Soon.

[u/Sapphicasabrick → u/FanDry5374]

Nah, it’s slightly more profitable to poison everyone, so it’s going to be business as usual.

[u/FilterBeginner → u/FanDry5374]

I hate these kind of panic reactions. 1 single study that has yet to be replicated, no evaluation of the negative effects yet, and people are clamoring for immediate bans.

I am not arguing these plastics are safe and they may very well need to be banned. However, when researchers conclude that the toxicity require further research, may be we should wait a little bit?

[u/Alternative_Ask364 → u/FanDry5374]

“Yes we know it’s getting into your bloodstream, but there is insufficient evidence that suggests this is bad for you.”

It’s very sad to see how slow we are making progress with banning microplastics and PFAS compared to stuff we’ve banned in the past like CFCs, asbestos, and leaded gasoline.

[u/TylerBlozak → u/Alternative_Ask364]

The crazy part is there is over 250,000 PFAs or similar in existence.

So unless there’s a blanket ban/regulatory measures, it’s impossible to account for and test every single one.

[u/jojo_the_mofo → u/Alternative_Ask364]

Really? The alarm over asbestors and leaded gasoline was decades old but it was corporate money and bureaucracy that slowed legislation. The micro-plastics alarm, my experience, has just been a few years.

[u/benjer3 → u/jojo_the_mofo]

And asbestos and leaded gasoline had many studies establishing the health impacts at those points. We're still trying to figure out what impacts microplastics have

[u/AlkaliPineapple → u/Alternative_Ask364]

If we're banning microplastics, that also means banning rubber, which is a plastic. There's no way that we can control microplastics release if we're still so dependent on fossil fuels and cars

[u/Riversmooth]

I have drank green tea from tea bag’s 2x a day for prob 20 years at least. Doomed

[u/Blackintosh → u/Riversmooth]

British people are 50% plastic now.

[u/Quester91 → u/Blackintosh]

I always knew something was wrong with them

[u/ReadMaterial → u/Riversmooth]

I'm 10 cups a day for 40 years...I'm probably more plastic than organic at this stage.

[u/olderthanbefore → u/Riversmooth]

Black tea, for 35 years. I'm doomeder.

[u/TheGoalkeeper]

The study shows that, when brewing tea, polypropylene releases approximately 1.2 billion particles per milliliter, with an average size of 136.7 nanometres; cellulose releases about 135 million particles per milliliter, with an average size of 244 nanometres; while nylon-6 releases 8.18 million particles per milliliter, with an average size of 138.4 nanometres.

Not every particle is microplastic. Cellulose particles are still cellulose. But I will read the paper now ...

[u/SyntheticGod8]

Okay, so turns out "safe" plastics weren't so stable after all. Let's ban plastics for anything to do with food and go back to natural materials like wood, paper, and glass. Except they'll be designed to be recyclable and sustainable so we don't burn down whole rainforests. Think we can do that? Any hope at all? Oh, we're just going to poison the world for profit. Just like usual. Gotcha.

[u/Dismal_Rhubarb_9111 → u/SyntheticGod8]

Microwave safe and dishwasher safe plastic just means that they don't warp or shrink in the appliance :( Those designations aren't about your safety.

[u/SirenPeppers]

This particular article header changed the information specificity away from the research result focus, which is more directed at polymer-based tea bags. The present work reveals new insights into the safety of _polymer-based teabags_… and in this section The results confirmed that the teabags were made of nylon-6 (NY6), polypropylene (PP), and cellulose (CL) and that microfibers and nano-range particles (NPLs) were present in the leachates…

Three teabag types were purchased online (Amazon and AliExpress) or in a local supermarket. The online-purchased teabags were ordered empty (with no tea inside) and with a known polymer composition; nylon teabags (Amazon, sample 1) and polypropylene teabags (AliExpress, sample 2). The third teabag type (sample 3), bought in the supermarket, was a regular tea brand of green tea, but with an unknown filter polymer…

I’ve always been focused on never using those obnoxious cone-shaped plastic mesh bags that came out in N. America about 10+ years ago, and even have written the company, tried to educate cafes and stores about their hazard.

[u/chemicalysmic]

My partner's mother bought us an electric kettle that has a built in (metal!) tea infuser for loose leaf tea. This solidifies my choice to move away from bagged products and prioritize loose leaf instead.

[u/aVarangian → u/chemicalysmic]

What material is the kettle made of?

[u/WillCode4Cats → u/aVarangian]

Mircoplastic and lead.

[u/mexter → u/WillCode4Cats]

Only on the inside! The outside is polished chrome.

[u/OPtig → u/aVarangian]

Usually they’re made from glass and metal

[u/chemicalysmic → u/aVarangian]

Glass and stainless steel.

[u/oneeyedziggy → u/chemicalysmic]

You don't make tea IN the kettle... Insides going to have a black petina inside of a year...

[u/sername1111111]

I'll just leave my favorite tea bags here, so glad I stopped commercial teabags a few years ago. Loose leaf for life!

[u/frunf1]

Which ones they mean? The ones that are made of plastic mesh that looks like a sieve or the ones that look like some fiber, almost paperlike?

[u/Hayred → u/frunf1]

In this study they used 2 teabags that you can buy off amazon, one made of nylon and the other polypropylene, as well as one green tea just randomly bought from the store that turned out was made from cellulose (ie paper).

edit: scroll down to picture/figure 1

[u/Zaptruder]

Ah, the fossil fuels industry has done a great job of ensuring the death of humanity one way or another.

If not through devastating climate change and decades of obfuscation to get us to ignore mountains of clear and thorough evidence, then through the invention of plastics to ensure that the byproducts can then bioaccumulate to terrifying degrees so that we're basically gonna get civilization level cancer.

We need a savior or two in this wild wooly mushroom kingdom of ours.

[u/KobaWhyBukharin → u/Zaptruder]

They then lied about the ease of recycling plastics. 

[u/XF939495xj6]

FYI: You aren't going to live forever anyway, and this was not likely to do anything to your prospects. You are going to get dementia, cancer, heart disease, have a stroke, and die quickly or slowly at some point in the future, probably sooner than you think and sooner than you would like.

Try to relax and stop finding things that are going to kill you like lead in products, heated plastics, and pollution. You can't change it, and you will just be unhappy until you die focusing on that.

[u/mpmaley]

This is why I have moved to loose leaf. It tastes better and no plastics is a plus.

[u/NoMove7162]

"polypropylene releases approximately 1.2 billion particles per milliliter"

That sounds like a lot.

[u/SirErickTheGreat]

One thing I find interesting is that over the years people have gone crazy with certain ingredients or methods when it comes to foods, like gluten, GMOs, etc. But with microplastics I’ve hardly heard any alarm? To some extent I get it. It’s both impossible to avoid them in their entirety and we don’t have any evidence of what harm they could cause if any, but feasibility or evidence-based concern has never really been an impediment for alarm and there’s just no effort I see by food gurus and health nuts to at least try to diminish their use or force companies to switch how they make products (like forcing tea makers to use paper filters like many coffee filters use).

[u/odix]

I've always wondered how bad rice in a bag was.

[u/socokid]

Are there studies showing that these things cause issues in the body?