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Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup
- ilyagr 7y agoI am a fan of buying empty tea bags and then filling them with loose-leaf tea. The more enviromentally friendly way to have tea that is not oversteeped would be to use a metal strainer, but those can be a pain to clean. I didn't know to check what those bags are made of, but now I do.
- fiblye 7y agoI use a Japanese teapot, and most have a metal mesh inside. You can just give it a rinse with water after using it and you’re pretty much done. If you’re using decent quality tea leaves, they’ll expand to a pretty large size within the pot and there’s really nothing to get caught in the filter. Just flip it over and dump it. Definitely a worthwhile purchase if you’re a big drinker. Here’s an example: http://kyonagomi.ocnk.net/data/kyonagomi/product/20141028_kiusuhimetu/RIMG0142.JPG http://kyonagomi.ocnk.net/data/kyonagomi/product/20141028_ki...
- magic_beans 7y agoI wish they had reported the brands :/
- DMac87 7y agoThis. How does one tell whether this affects a particular brand or not?
- simias 7y agoIf I understand correctly you can easily spot those types of bags. Instead of paper they look like a fine plastic mesh. Lipton uses them in their pyramid-shaped sachets.
- hettygreen 7y agoThe article says that it is the "silken" pyramid shaped tea bags that are made of plastic. I buy tea loose-leaf at the asian grocery store and steep it in a glass coffee press to filter out the leaves. Yay super cheap and no microplastics!
- gen3 7y agoI would assume anything that uses the triangle tea bag would all be about the same. I can only remember getting them from Teavana, but I don’t spend a ton on prepackaged expensive Tea.
- sleavey 7y agoPlastic tea bags aside, I was shocked to learn that many paper tea bags still use plastic glue [1], which can contaminate compost. [1] https://www.countryliving.com/uk/create/food-and-drink/news/a3291/plastic-tea-bags-environment/ https://www.countryliving.com/uk/create/food-and-drink/news/...
- ljcn 7y ago30+ brands compared: https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/food-drink/there-plastic-my-tea https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/food-drink/there-plastic-my-... The best advice is drink loose-leaf.
- jszymborski 7y agoI guess diffusers/loose tea it is. I just hate how annoying they are to clean with some of the finer black teas.
- SolaceQuantum 7y agoYou can use string-and-paper based bags that you fill yourself. All the convenience of bagged tea, all the taste of looseleaf!
- NeedMoreTea 7y agoTeapot and tea strainer! Much easier to clean than infusers which often manage to be fiddly too.
- londons_explore 7y agoThere really aren't many glues which are compostable, non-plastic, non-toxic and can withstand 10 minutes of boiling water.
- windsurfer 7y agoEgg whites?
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- rayiner 7y agoModern tea paraphernalia is stupid. Like those fancy woven strings that act like wicks and dribble tea down the side. It's hard to even find normal tea anymore. I ask for tea and people ask "what flavor." And I'm like "tea flavor." My Bangladeshi mom uses Lipton tea bags and a bit of milk. Should be good enough for everybody.
- PieUser 7y agoI like Earl Grey more than any other kind.
- gen3 7y agoI mainly drink “Irish Breakfast tea” since it’s just black tea. I don’t like all the spices and such other teas have.
- simias 7y agoI can't tell if you're being ironic. In case you're not, that's a frankly silly take. The sachets TFA talks about are not generally used for fancy "hipster" tea but rather the super mainstream commercial "tea-flavoured tea" and industrial herbal teas you like so much. Unless you consider Lipton to be fancy niche tea artisans: http://img.webme.com/pic/m/megisti/ethel-lipton-all.jpg http://img.webme.com/pic/m/megisti/ethel-lipton-all.jpg Beyond that the "standard" tea you seem to enjoy is probably "English breakfast tea" and you can probably still find it extremely easily in any tea shop in the world, alongside Earl Grey and a few other classics.
- skookum 7y agoWhich flavor is "tea flavor"? Black, pu-erh, oolong, green, white? For black, is it Assam, Ceylon, Darjeeling, etc, etc? Why should the specific flavor blend that Lipton's tasters put together for their Yellow Label be good enough for everybody?
- userbinator 7y agoI think someone who refers to a generic "tea flavor" really just means "tastes vaguely like a plant".
- droopyEyelids 7y agoThose fancy bags are called "sachets" in the tea world
- simias 7y agoLoose tea is often cheaper and of better quality in my experience. If you brew tea a lot using a reusable strainer seems like a much better choice. I'm also entirely convinced that these plastic pyramid-shaped bags are pure marketing. Then again, I find Lipton tea absolutely terrible regardless of the shape of the bag.
- lm28469 7y agoFrom an ecological standpoint it makes much more sense too. When you buy a box of lipton tea bags you basically get 20x2g of tea in 20x2 grams of trash packaged in a box inside a plastic film.
- dragontamer 7y ago> Loose tea is often cheaper and of better quality in my experience. This is indeed my experience as well. Still, the convenience factor of Lipton tea cannot be understated. I'm personally willing to bring in my own tea, metal strainers + teaspoon measurement to my workplace for example (hot-water is usually available in most offices). But that's probably too much for a lot of people. In contrast, you can usually get Lipton Tea from the office supplies, use some paper cups (also office supplies), and get to tea drinking without having to buy the supplies.
- simias 7y agoI've been using these tea balls in office environments: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51mTZ1eURrL._AC_SL1000_.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51mTZ1eURrL... In terms of convenience I don't think it's significantly worse than sachets. But yeah, I do buy my own tea and store it in my drawer.
- dragontamer 7y agoI have about 3 different devices, all of which seem to work well. 1. A device identical to your picture. 2. This "other" tea ball: https://i.imgur.com/Hg0mWFl.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Hg0mWFl.jpg 3. Tea "infuser". Similar to this one (but a different brand): https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41QJxs18f1L._AC_.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41QJxs18f1L... . This is the bulkiest option though, and you still need another cup to transfer the liquid to. My favorite tool is #1: the "springy clasp ball on the end of a stick". So I can recommend that to everyone over the other two devices. #2 isn't bad, but there's a lot of convenience factor to #1's spring design. > In terms of convenience I don't think it's significantly worse than sachets. In making tea, no, not much difference. But I dislike cleaning metal-meshes. Cleaning is a minor inconvenience... but if you've ever just used a paper-cup + Lipton tea bag and just trash everything when you're done... lol. Lazy lifestyle (but wasteful). But yeah, its probably better for the environment to have these reusable tools, like a coffee mug. --------- By the way, Lipton does sell loose tea, if you're a fan of Lipton. But I live near a tea / coffee shop with superior teas at low prices, so I just grab what they have instead. As far as store-bought tea is concerned, Twinings is tasty and widely available. I'd take Twinings > Lipton any day. Lipton is slightly cheaper, but Twinings really does taste better.
- AdmiralAsshat 7y agoI drink a decent amount of tea, and I feel like this is largely confined to the mid-grade teas that are fancier than your basic Lipton or Twinings, but not-so-fancy as to be loose-leaf. I'm thinking specifically of stuff like Harney and Sons, that you often see for sale at your nearest B&N or Starbucks: https://www.amazon.com/Harney-Sons-Hot-Cinnamon-Spice/dp/B0065JA1IQ/ https://www.amazon.com/Harney-Sons-Hot-Cinnamon-Spice/dp/B00... I also see grocery-store versions at Target and such. Those appear to be the ones that employee the plastic triangle satchet. The cheaper stuff, from what I can tell, is still using paper.
- lefty2 7y agoDon't be too sure. Even the paper tea bags have been found to contain plastic: https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/food-drink/barrys-tea-plastic https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/food-drink/barrys-tea-p...
- jimclegg 7y agoThey also contain traces of the bleach used to whiten them from what I understand.
- theobeers 7y agoThis kind of “silken” sachet is what you get when you buy sachets from Harney, but they also sell a lot of loose-leaf. I would even say that’s closer to the original core of their business. I used to order big bags of hot cinnamon spice, a decade or so ago.
- bstar77 7y agoMany cheap Lipton teas have this type of sachet. Using this plastic is a horrible trend and I'm not sure how it started. My worry was always more about leeching, but the microplastic results might even be more disturbing. Such a shame that a natural simple solution is compromised. I'm sticking to my looseleaf. https://www.amazon.com/Lipton-Tea-Fruits-Rouges-Red/dp/B00JNS8L9C/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?keywords=lipton+iced+tea+sachet&qid=1569434867&sr=8-2-fkmr0 https://www.amazon.com/Lipton-Tea-Fruits-Rouges-Red/dp/B00JN...
- ljcn 7y agoI wonder how this compares to the several grams of plastic per week consumed from drinking water. https://phys.org/news/2019-06-consume-credit-card-worth-plastic.html https://phys.org/news/2019-06-consume-credit-card-worth-plas...
- graeme 7y agoThat's disturbing. Can any consumer grade filters remove plastics that small?
- rcMgD2BwE72F 7y agoJust stop drinking bottled water.
- dpcx 7y agoThat article also suggests tap water contains plastics, so "stop drinking bottled water" will help, but doesn't remove it all from the equation.
- userbinator 7y agoConsumed... and then excreted. Honestly, I mostly agree with the statement "Some experts remain sceptical about longterm impacts" since plastics are famously inert.
- emptybits 7y agoI hope this news tempts some convenience-tea drinkers to explore the incredible world of loose, whole leaf tea. Many aromatic and delicious rabbit holes await you if you start to explore the original world of tea which is still very much alive and well. All the styles and sub-styles of Chinese and Japanese teas are rewarding to prepare and serve and drink. Smaller footprint for processing, packaging, transport, storage, and waste.
- mikestew 7y agoUgh, yet another "hmm, never thought of that" thing to worry about, but it comes at a good time. I was just giving thought to going to back to loose leaf and a tea ball as I was preparing some Trader Joe's Earl Grey that comes in an individual plastic wrapper, along with a string and a bag, and whatever else. For a cup of tea. I'm one step away from a Kuerig. Other brands in the cupboard aren't a whole lot better on packaging. And now plastic in my tea. The wife's got to have a tea strainer in here somewhere...
- okcando 7y agoI've been trying to avoid groceries that come with single-use plastic and it's tough. Grapes and cherry tomatoes come in plastic bags or cartons, even at salt-of-the-earth type places. Meat or cheese from the deli gets a zip lock. There's no way to use the olive bar without grabbing a plastic carton, in various sizes. I wouldn't have even suspected the tea bags themselves. I assume some of them are still made with natural fibers but how would you know?
- a-wu 7y agoAt the higher-end grocery stores near me (Whole Foods, Nugget, etc), you can bring your own container and tare it before filling. Maybe you can see if your local grocery store can do this at the deli/olive bar?
- sixstringtheory 7y agoI've been doing this a while. At the big stores, cashiers are always happy to do it, it's just a mild inconvenience because they rarely know how to tare on their machines–they always have to call over a manager and figure it out together. I figure if enough people do it, they'll get used to it, but I don't hold hope for that, judging by the stares we get from everyone waiting in line behind us. It feels like the average person feels more averse to what we're trying to accomplish. Our local co-op is a lot more streamlined for this, they even do periodical sales for people who bring reusable containers. Our next goal is to bring our own containers when we eat out, in case we don't finish the food and want to bring the rest home. Often times we purposely order more than we can finish so we get a greater variety of things to share and a whole extra meal the next day.
- microcolonel 7y agoPart of the reason I don't use sea salt at home. Here in Canada we can pump salt out of the ground and it's largely free of microplastics.
- buckminster 7y agoSome of these fancy bags (e.g. from tea pigs) are made from polylactic acid. This is derived from corn starch and used in temporary medical implants (it degrades to lactic acid) so hopefully it's safe.
- SeaSeaRider 7y agoThanks, I’m a Tea Pig drinker, was looking for this comment.
- ciconia 7y agoOne should also mention that tea is an imported good in most developed countries. It's externalities and environmental impact go far beyond microplastics.
- amelius 7y agoAre there devices that can count microplastic particles? If not, how would you build one?
- ineedasername 7y agoMy guess is you take a very small sample, count the particles, extrapolate to the whole (I suppose image recognition might automate this somewhat)
- amelius 7y agoYes but how do you distinguish the microplastics from small tea dust?
- paws 7y agoI would imagine at this scale, It's not so much counting particles, but weighing them. So you need to separate them out to do that. Elements of different mass can be separated using centrifuges. Not 100% sure for this case, but I know that's how it's done for certain kinds of refinement.
- ddeck 7y agoWith an electron microscope and infrared and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. From the article: The researchers counted the plastic particles by cutting open bags of tea, removing the tea, rinsing off any pieces that might have come off during cutting, and then steeping the bags in distilled water at 95 C. They then took a sample, let the water evaporate, and counted the plastic particles under an electron microscope, then extrapolated to get the amount in one cup. They also used other instruments to identify the type of plastic in each bag. The researchers also repeated the experiment with uncut bags that still contained tea to make sure the cutting didn't cause the bags to shed, and with loose tea leaves, confirming that uncut bags shed microplastics too (although they were harder to count) and the plastic didn't originate from the tea itself. The original study references the use of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).
- suyash 7y agoStarbucks uses them I believe.
- krumpet 7y agoThe use of "some" and "may" in titles always bothers me. Seems like there should be more concrete language available to state the point the article is attempting to make.
- lotyrin 7y agoYeah, if "some" is there it seems we should be confident enough to drop "may" or we should have looked into it a bit more before publishing...
- smacktoward 7y agoThe flip side of this is that scientists are terribly difficult people to get to not hedge their statements. It's just a consequence of the scientific mindset -- scientists are aware that today's results are always provisional, someone may come along tomorrow with a new discovery that overturns them. So they tend to avoid making definitive statements like saying something applies to all things, or that some thing is, favoring less definitive statements like something applies to some things, some thing may be, etc.
- krumpet 7y agoI would prefer something similar to, "Test of single plastic teabag shown to release billions of microplastics and nanoplastics". Accurate without overpromising.
- krumpet 7y agoIt's worth noting the first statement in the actual report reads, "Plastic teabags release billions of microparticles and nanoparticles into tea"
- OrgNet 7y agojust like titles that end in question marks... usually always bullshit
- ghostbrainalpha 7y agoGuess its back to using my led ball tea steeper.
- agumonkey 7y agoVery slightly related. I thought I could throw tetley tea bags in the yard, turns out they do not biodegrade at all. Even though the thing looks like natural fibers.. maybe they're just thin plastic fibers ?
- hammock 7y agoThe good thing, if you can call it that, is PET and nylon (what these silk teabags are made of) are some of the least reactive and most human-safe plastics you can put in your body.
- rectangletangle 7y agoResearching this it seems like PLA is also common. "Plastic" is a super vague term, and it seems like non-petroleum plastics are the norm for this application. One benefit is that these types of plastics readily biodegrade into lactic acid (which naturally occurs in many foods). From a health standpoint it seems like they could be safer than some petroleum based plastics. Would be interested to learn more from someone who knows this area better. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polylactic_acid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polylactic_acid
- basicplus2 7y agoSee comment above.. alexandercrohde 4 hours ago Commentary published in Environmental Health Perspectives in April 2010 suggested that PET might yield endocrine disruptors under conditions of common use and recommended research on this topic.[26]
- Dirlewanger 7y agoSo what? Doesn't mean we're expelling them. They could all be settling somewhere in our gut until one day we complain of an ache and find out we have a plastic tumor in us. Ending up like so many sea creatures dying from ingesting too much plastic.
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- piercebot 7y agoLots of comments promoting loose-leaf teas. My favorite suppliers are: + https://www.meimeitea.com/ https://www.meimeitea.com/ + https://yunnansourcing.com/ https://yunnansourcing.com/ If you live in the DC Area, Victoria (who runs Meimei Fine Teas) hosts tea classes, and is happy to share stores of her annual tea sourcing trips to China. Really high quality products from a trustworthy source. There's something really special about knowing trusting an individual (rather than a company) to deliver you a fantastic product and experience.
- ryannevius 7y agoThanks for these. I've been looking for an alternative to https://www.rareteacompany.com/ https://www.rareteacompany.com/ – which also supplies great tea, but seems to have issues (reliably) shipping internationally.
- colanderman 7y agoFor Boston area I recommend Mem Tea: https://www.memteaimports.com/ https://www.memteaimports.com/ Definitely worth a visit in person for samples and advice. A lot of local restaurants stock their stuff too.
- shanecleveland 7y agoI drink tea over coffee (for digestive reasons), and I assume I am missing out on really good tea. Any readily-available loose-leaf tea recommendations?
- fitzroy 7y agoI love Mariage Frères, Eros. Also their Marco Polo and Earl Grey. I'm curious to try some others mentioned in the comments.
- kjw 7y agoSecond MF. While expensive, their individually bagged teas use cotton muslin.
- mikebonnell 7y agoI love tea from adagio.com
- binarypaean 7y ago[Rishi Teas](https://www.rishi-tea.com/ https://www.rishi-tea.com/) imports a rainbow of top-shelf teas and herbal infusions I really like. I mostly drink [Jasmine Pearl](https://www.rishi-tea.com/product/jasmine-pearl-green-tea/loose-leaf-tea https://www.rishi-tea.com/product/jasmine-pearl-green-tea/lo...) or [Matcha Gyokuro](https://www.rishi-tea.com/product/matcha-gyokuro-japanese-green-tea/loose-leaf-tea https://www.rishi-tea.com/product/matcha-gyokuro-japanese-gr...). If I want a no-caff drink instead, something based on [Rooibos](https://www.rishi-tea.com/product/ginger-lime-rooibos-organic-caffeine-free-rooibos-blend/loose-leaf-tea https://www.rishi-tea.com/product/ginger-lime-rooibos-organi...) or [Turmeric](https://www.rishi-tea.com/product/turmeric-ginger-organic-caffeine-free-herbal-blend/loose-leaf-tea https://www.rishi-tea.com/product/turmeric-ginger-organic-ca...). If you like darker teas, their black, oolong or pu'er teas may be your speed.
- shanecleveland 7y agoDefinitely into the black, caffeinated teas. Thanks!
- blue_devil 7y agoLidl (in Europe) has pyramid teabags that look the same but are made of cellulose and bio-degradeable (according to the packaging).
- cmoscoe 7y agoThere have been a lot of news stories about microplastics being basically everywhere recently. Is there any good research on if it's a problem? What are the effects on humans of consuming them? What are the effects on aquatic ecosystems, etc?
- alexandercrohde 7y agoCommentary published in Environmental Health Perspectives in April 2010 suggested that PET might yield endocrine disruptors under conditions of common use and recommended research on this topic.[26]
- meristem 7y agoThe other problem, in the US at least, is that many coffee shops and restaurants are sellers of a popular brand of tea that comes with plastic mesh bags (Might Leaf) yet have not thought through/do not understand (/do not care?) they are mixing compostable matter with non-compostable matter. The results are tea in the trash or plastic in compostables.
- julianz 7y agoThis is bad, but most "paper" tea bags still include plastic in their manufacture as part of the heat sealing. English article about which brands do and don't here, note that it's all the mass market brands that include plastic, so that's most of the market. https://www.countryliving.com/uk/create/food-and-drink/news/a3291/plastic-tea-bags-environment/ https://www.countryliving.com/uk/create/food-and-drink/news/...
- city41 7y agoThis looks to be an equivalent US article: https://www.becausehealth.org/plastic-in-my-tea-bag-2618934044.html https://www.becausehealth.org/plastic-in-my-tea-bag-26189340... I was happy to see Celestial Seasonings have no plastic. They also don't have the string, tag or staple, which I always appreciated.
- guelo 7y agoMy pet peeve is piping hot coffee which is brewed or delivered using plastic. It is almost impossible to buy prepared coffee that doesn't come in contact with some kind of plastic. I don't trust any of it.
- craftinator 7y agoBillions.
- 8bitsrule 7y agoLipton tea in mainstream US stores has always suffered by comparison to the English brands. (Tea-drinking is relatively uncommon in the US.) If they even have any, many US restaurants will often serve tea that's obviously been open-to-the-atmosphere for a long time. They just don't know any better. In the northern US, we could border-cross to buy Canadian teabags which were far better than US bags ... owing, no doubt, to the number of Canadians of UK-extraction. (Which may also explain why most Canadian beer is better.)
- segfaultbuserr 7y ago> But it's not known if that poses health risk This is the big question. I think people around the world have been ingesting microplastic for 30 years or longer, yet there's no reported case of any direct toxic effects. So I guess microplastic doesn't have immediately effects on health, but I won't be surprised if future studies find longterm effects, such as increasing the risk of cancer, damage to the circulatory system or the brain. Overall, I think we must take actions immediately for solutions, but I won't particularly worry about this problem and I'll continue buying bottled water. It's not unlike the air pollution in the 20th century, one has to live with it. Nevertheless, "microplastic is going to kill all of us" surely is going to be the trope of the next decade. See also: * Microplastics found in 93% of bottled water tested in global study https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16793888 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16793888 * Microplastics found in 90 percent of table salt https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18248471 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18248471 * Microplastics Are Blowing in the Wind https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19672514 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19672514 * Microplastics found in supermarket fish, shellfish https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14245133 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14245133
- wtdata 7y agoThere is no going back about cleaning plastics by traditional methods now unfortunately. The only real solution I see is if we bio-engineer some bacteria/microorganism capable of decomposing it and release it in the environment. It might be a danregous proposition, but (expect the even more advanced and potentially dangerous proposition of nanites) I can't see any other way of getting rid of all the plastic we already put into the environment even if we stop producing it.
- wtdata 7y agoAnd add the problem with plastics with the fact that this marketing stunt with pyramidal tea bags, occupies about 3x more volume and as such take 3x more resources to store and transport than traditional tea bags.
- tripzilch 7y ago> the tea bags released microplastic and even smaller nanoplastic particles — and not just the hundreds or thousands Tufenkji had been expecting. this is a misleading title. if one microplastic is a thousand nanoplastics then obviously it's going to be trillions of nanoplastics and billions of microplastics. > "We were shocked when we saw billions of particles in a single cup of tea," she said. So if you get this "bubble tea" with tapioca balls in it, are they macro particles?
- _carl_jung 7y agoNo, because it depends on how it's breaking down. If you have one cohesive sheet of plastic, it would be wrong to say that you have trillions of nanoparticles of plastic. The concerns with plastics that break up into many smaller pieces and enter the body and wider ecosystem are different (and potentially worse) than the concerns of the impacts of a single macro piece.
- mijoharas 7y agoBillions of microplastics... why don't they just say thousands of plastics?
- mekoka 7y agoBecause graphite is not diamond.
- inimino 7y agoIf you want good tea: Forget about Lipton, Celestial Seasonings, anything that comes in tea bags, or has a name brand on it. If there's a Chinatown or international market street in your area, go there. Ask around for where there's a tea shop. A good tea shop will offer to make you some tea when you walk in. Accept and try whatever they give you. Buy what you like. There are hundreds of varieties of green tea alone, not to mention white, black, oolong, pu-erh, etc. Tea is sold loose and by weight. When you make it, you can put water just off the boil in a tall glass with the tea leaves. They will sink to the bottom and you don't need to filter it. Later you can get more sophisticated about your brewing and buy a clay teapot, or a special glass flask with a pop-in stainless steel strainer at the mouth.
- yetanotherjosh 7y agoNot a single mention in this thread of a gaiwan. It's stunning how there's an ancient, effective, wasteless, flavorless, attractive and elegant alternative to tea bags that western culture simply has no clue about. The Chinese and other asian cultures have been using it for thousands of years. (Or at least since the Ming dynasty, and far earlier if you include the "tea bowl" precursors.) There is zero need for a tea bag when you have such a simple, elegant, and effective ceramic dish in which to steep tea. That and the fact that tea bag tea is virtually synonymous with ignorance of the full range of quality that exists in the world of tea, as far I can tell. The good teas from around the world just do not come in tea bags, and routinely when I share them with friends who think tea comes in tea bags, they are blown away.