Are We Drinking Tea Flavoured with Microplastics?

Tea is one of the most popular and well-loved beverages worldwide, with a wide range of variants including herbal tea, green tea, and black tea. It can be consumed in bulk or in tea bag form. Tea contains bioactive ingredients with various health benefits including theanine, polyphenols and antioxidants. Tea bags are a convenient option for brewing tea as they are easy to handle and use. However, tea bags are typically made from cellulose, nylon or polyethylene terephthalate plastics (PET), which are used in a wide range of goods and packaging due to their high malleability. When tea bags are brewed in hot water, they may release microplastics into the drink posing serious health concerns. These microplastics disrupt endocrine system, reproduction, mobility, development of the organisms and even cause carcinogenesis in some cases. Tea bags may also introduce the toxic polymers laced with arsenic, nitrates, cadmium, lead, copper, mercury, aluminium, radium salt, barium as well as fluorine compounds into the beverage. To identify and confirm the presence of microplastics in samples, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman Spectroscopy, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) are employed by researchers. To avoid unintentional ingestion of microplastics through tea consumption, the best alternative is to switch from plastic tea bags to loose-leaf tea with natural, sustainable paper or cloth packaging. Here, we emphasize and highlight the flagrancy of the microplastics and its adverse effects on environment as well as on human health.