That's how much microplastic is in your tea bag

Microplastics can now be found everywhere: in cosmetic products, in food and drinking water, even in the air - simply everywhere. So much that a whole credit card of microplastics comes together every week.

And tea bags also join the long list and release microplastics.

Tea bags made of the plastics nylon and PET were examined. It turned out that a single tea bag released over eleven billion microplastic particles and over three billion nanoplastic particles into the water when brewed. A cup of tea contains a total of around 16 micrograms of plastic. The high water temperature apparently even increases the effect.

But why are there microplastics in tea bags?

Quite simply: plastic should support tear resistance. Paper alone would allegedly not withstand the hot water.

 

The shape makes the difference?

The classic tea bags with string and label are usually sewn without plastic, while tea bags without string are often glued with a plastic seam. Pyramid bags are often made of bioplastic (PLA), which is also not optimal. Bioplastics are indistinguishable from traditional plastics by landfill sites and are also incinerated rather than biodegraded.

Our tips:

When it comes to tea, look for organic quality or try loose tea. This is guaranteed to be plastic-free and can be easily brewed in a metal tea infuser or in teapots with an integrated tea strainer. Some guaranteed plastic-free tea brands are: Pukka , Meßmer , Alnatura , Lebensbaum or Yogi-Tea .

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