Tea Bags and Microplastics
Just saw this article about teabags releasing microplastics when steeped and thought it was important to share. I usually drink looseleaf, but a lot of companies that bag teas (or do bagged for advent) use those pyramid bags that are either cellulose or polymer based. I didn’t realize some were polymer based and the article is saying it is unknown if they are truly compostable. Microplastics freak me out a bit and I’ve been throwing tea bags into the compost for years. :(
https://www.iflscience.com/some-teabags-release-millions-of-microplastics-that-could-enter-intestinal-cells-77354
Yeah, this is not surprising. But I think microplastics are probably in everything… I have also been worried about microplastics for a while now, right alongside forever chemicals… so it is sad this is “news” that an article is doing NOW.
What might help (a little bit) is just to empty the tea from the teabags into a different infuser, rather than toss out every sort of teabag…
That’s what I’m doing now with the last few bags from my advents. Sure wish I’d seen the article at the beginning of the month!
I agree that they are probably in everything. They have gone past the blood brain barrier and been found in the first poop of infants. I do wonder how much they are tied to what seems to be a rise in cancer rates. I’m slowly getting rid of most of the plastic that touches my foods to hopefully slow down the amount I ingest, but it’s probably a loosing battle.
Login or sign up to leave a comment.