> How does that compare with ... plastic-lined paper cups .. cling wrap that covers our food as we heat ... the Tupperware and other plastic containers we heat our food up in ... bottled water that sits inside plastic for months ... plastic bowls and utensils we use in our kitchens ... disposable serrated plastic knife...
For myself, I don't do any of the above (with the possible exception of the last one once in a while). I thought everyone knew those were a bad idea.
I do drink tea using tea bags though — and had no reason to believe there was plastic involved.
The research specifically deals with cellulose bags which are often sealed with glues containing synthetic polymers.
The picture from the study of the cellulose bags show a round “pillow” style bag which is likely sealed with a glue, unlike some cellulose bags which are folded and stapled:
> The tea bags used for the research were made from the polymers nylon-6, polypropylene and cellulose. The study shows that, when brewing tea, polypropylene releases approximately 1.2 billion particles per milliliter, with an average size of 136.7 nanometers; cellulose releases about 135 million particles per milliliter, with an average size of 244 nanometers; while nylon-6 releases 8.18 million particles per milliliter, with an average size of 138.4 nanometers.
So while polypropylene is the worst of the three by an order of magnitude, the cellulose pillow-style bag still leaches a large number of particles.
Notably, the authors tested OEM empty teabags for polypropylene and nylon, but chose a supermarket brand of cellulose pillow-style bags with tea still inside.
This discussion is complicated by the loose (ha!) definition of tea bags. There’s about a million different tea bags. Some use denser paper, some are thin. Some are stapled, some are pressed. Some are stringed and some are not. Some are single-use cotton (which I learned about when a local tea brand stopped using them due to cost).
Lipton makes a premium brand that uses a tetrahedral shaped micro-perforated plastic bag that very much could be shedding microplastics.
It’s hard to have a discussion without a clear definition and terminology.
Most teabags I use now don't split (some imported brands you have to be careful with), these are just regular looking ones not the fine mesh ones used by premium brands. I can jam them against the side of the cup to squeeze out liquid before removing the bag and they almost never split.
I'd say these extra strong bags have become common in the last 15 years in the UK. How they are strengthened I'm not sure, but my parents compost most of their food waste and they reckon worms now push teabags to the top of the compost bin, when previously they would just disappear with everything else and never be seen again.
There was a different study earlier this year on hacker news about the storage items - cling wrap and plastic containers, those materials all leach into food at different rates depending upon the temperature, acidity of food, and length of exposure contact - hotter and more acidic and longer means more leaching. It's non-zero but the danger level is anyone's guess at this point.
Just FYI, you can buy stainless steel loose leaf tea infusers. They don't cost a lot ($6->$15) and loose leaf tea is shockingly cheap. Just get a nice airtight container and some moister absorbing packets and you'll have great tea for a while.
I bought like 1lbs ~2 years ago for about $20 and still haven't worked all the way through it :D.
I will also say that loose leaf is an order of magnitude better tasting than bagged tea. The crush-tear-curl process of bagged tea will elicit a bitter brew from anything that isn't black tea, and lose a lot of its flavor. Not to mention they're likely using the leftover chaff from loose leaf production.
I like to show friends a properly brewed Dragonwell green tea and a bug-bitten oolong to convert them to the loose leaf way.
If you've not already gotten it, this is the next purchase I'd recommend [1]. Nothing better than instant hot water at the right temp :D. Doesn't take hardly any power to run either.
I picked up a couple of these at IKEA years ago. Sets on the lip of most mugs for brewing and then can be removed and placed in its holder to contain drips.
Do you never consume canned goods? Cans for soda are lined with a plastic. Same for vegetables.
Never mind the clothes that you wear. Or the dishwasher that cleans the dishes.
Plastics have grown to be basically everywhere. Precautions are good. Same for studies. And we may find alternatives. But a lot of the fear around them does feel excessive.
For myself, I don't do any of the above (with the possible exception of the last one once in a while). I thought everyone knew those were a bad idea.
I do drink tea using tea bags though — and had no reason to believe there was plastic involved.