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I don’t do anything in that list you just mentioned, and I will probably stop drinking tea from a bag now. This is helpful research.
by bowmessage 2y ago
I don’t do anything in that list you just mentioned, and I will probably stop drinking tea from a bag now. This is helpful research.
- 0-_-0 2y agoWhere do you find plastic tea bags? I don't think I've ever seen one.
- TeaBrain 2y agoMesh tea bags, like are used at Starbucks, are plastic.
- bluejekyll 2y ago“The tea bags used for the research were made from the polymers nylon-6, polypropylene and cellulose.” They aren’t pure plastic.
- amanaplanacanal 2y agoThose were three different bags, not all in one.
- gaoshan 2y agoMost tea bags that you purchase anywhere use some level of plastics in their component materials and/or binding (especially this latter). The only safe options are metal strainers that you filter the tea with (and that hopefully don't have coatings on them that are harmful... boiling a new one would not be a bad idea before first use) or just loose leaf.
- Suppafly 2y agobourgie brands of tea come in little nylon pyramids instead of the normal paper/cloth bag.
- bagels 2y agoHow do you cook food?
- stevenwoo 2y agoIt's not hard to cut out the exposure listed in the comment with a little effort and time, except for the steel thing which is a bit over the top.
- woleium 2y agoit’s actually needed, see lucky fish: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_iron_fish https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_iron_fish
- selimthegrim 2y agoDebatable efficacy.
- marliechiller 2y agoCast iron pots and pans
- bagels 2y agoNot concerned about the chromium and vanadium present in most cast iron?
- fhackenberger 2y agoI'm not deeply into that topic, but the pan I use that's made of iron was 'burned-in' using linseed oil several times to create a non-sticky surface. Whatever that has as negative side-effects aside, that layer might trap the iron additives quite effectively.
- mixmastamyk 2y agoChromium is a nutrient. Unclear if it is necessary or not.
- brookst 2y agoBut is it? How confident are you that this is your greatest exposure? Odds are there is something else in your life at least 100x as bad. And what does it mean that cellulose, a naturally occurring compound, releases 15x more microplastics than nylon? Or does iy? This study didn’t measure nanoplastics. That’s what a lack of context does. No harm in just avoiding anything any study has found to be potentially harmful (especially tea bags, which are a crime against good tea and easily replaced). But… it’s impossible to know if this is the equivalent of stopping smoking, or of brushing teeth three times a day instead of two.
- JKCalhoun 2y agoI think we're simply responding to the list the OP gave — which many of us do not do.
- woleium 2y agohow do we find the 100x as bad thing if we do not do research like this. The authors did not write this to provide you with a guide for life, they are instead trying to increase our collective knowledge. I wonder sometimes if folks understand how science works.
- Suppafly 2y ago>they are instead trying to increase our collective knowledge I'm not sure that's even clear since they seem to be conflating cellulose with microplastics.
- Vegenoid 2y agoYou never have food or drink that was stored or served via plastic containers? How? I ask seriously - how do you live your life to entirely avoid this, while also not living a life so separate from society that you are drinking tea made from tea bags?
- bowmessage 2y agoI never eat or drink anything heated in plastic when I can control it. Sure it may have been stored in plastic at some point, but not heated.
- Suppafly 2y ago>I never eat or drink anything heated in plastic when I can control it. Do you avoid restaurants and cafeterias completely?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- mixmastamyk 2y agoRestaurants, etc use stainless steel for heating, not plastic. To-go containers often have plastic and should be avoided but should not get to their melting point.
- dylan604 2y agoMany people drink tea not from tea bags to the point that "many" isn't really descriptive enough. If you're a tea aficionado, you definitely don't. Which means there's an entire market of people doing things like an aficionado even if they are not; see audiophiles. Only mass market large brands push the tea bag. Good tea comes packaged as loose leaf meant to be used in whatever strainer you have.
- __MatrixMan__ 2y agoLose leaf tea is much better anyway. You can get multiple infusions out of it which is nice if you don't need the caffeine the second time around (it's quite water soluble and mostly all goes in the first infusion). A second infusion with bags always just ends up kinda watery and sad. Something about the leaves being smaller...
- acjohnson55 2y agoYep. I used to regularly drink high-grade ti guan yin (a.k.a. iron goddess), and I could often get 8 steeps and still have plenty of flavor. The trick was to use a lot of tea and steep it for only 30 seconds. One of the advantages was how quick it was to get my next cup.
- skirmish 2y agoLook up "gongfu steeping", it is a well established method, e.g. "15 to 30 seconds for the first infusion, then add 10 seconds to each subsequent infusion. If it seems a bit weak, leave it for longer."
- nycdatasci 2y agoIn the study, they put 300 nylon/plastic bags into 1L of near-boiling water. Many bags are paper derivatives and not plastic. No need to completely stop enjoying tea.