Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned about microplastics entering the human body and causing harm. Sometimes these sources of microplastics are surprising, such as those from tea bags: "People who drink loose leaf tea might be on to something: scientists in Spain have found evidence of plastic pollution getting into human cells after being leached from tea bags.
Published in the journal Chemosphere, the research by a team from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Sohag University in Egypt and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany, found that polymer-based commercial tea bags can "release millions of nanoplastics and microplastics when infused".
The team said their study showed vast numbers of particles end up absorbed by intestinal cells and, from there, pass into the bloodstream and around the human body.
"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 researchers explained."
Tea bags made from common plastics like nylon-6, polypropylene, and cellulose release millions of microplastics and nanoplastics into tea. These particles can be absorbed by human intestinal cells and enter the bloodstream.
Thus, the old idea of having loose tea, rather the convenience of a tea bag is healthier. Whoever would have thought the humble tea bag would be such a chemical problem!