Plastic Teabags Release Billions of Microparticles and Nanoparticles into Tea

TLDR

Micro‑ and nano‑plastic contamination is rising in the environment and food chain, raising growing concern. The study aimed to determine whether plastic teabags release micro‑ or nanoplastics during steeping. Released particles were identified as nylon and polyethylene terephthalate by FTIR and XPS. Steeping a plastic teabag at 95 °C releases ~11.6 billion micro‑ and 3.1 billion nano‑plastic particles, far exceeding levels reported in other foods, and the particles caused dose‑dependent behavioral and developmental toxicity in an invertebrate assay.

Abstract

The increasing presence of micro- and nano-sized plastics in the environment and food chain is of growing concern. Although mindful consumers are promoting the reduction of single-use plastics, some manufacturers are creating new plastic packaging to replace traditional paper uses, such as plastic teabags. The objective of this study was to determine whether plastic teabags could release microplastics and/or nanoplastics during a typical steeping process. We show that steeping a single plastic teabag at brewing temperature (95 °C) releases approximately 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nanoplastics into a single cup of the beverage. The composition of the released particles is matched to the original teabags (nylon and polyethylene terephthalate) using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The levels of nylon and polyethylene terephthalate particles released from the teabag packaging are several orders of magnitude higher than plastic loads previously reported in other foods. An initial acute invertebrate toxicity assessment shows that exposure to only the particles released from the teabags caused dose-dependent behavioral and developmental effects.