Tea bags release microplastics, entering human intestinal cells

medicalxpress.com

14 points·bikenaga··5 comments

The paper is published in the journal Chemosphere. Make what you will of that, with their current situation.

https://arstechnica.com/health/2024/12/journal-that-publishe...

There are teabags made from plastic?? That's the dumbest thing ever! Paper seems to work pretty well, I don't think I ever had a problem with the thousands of tea bags I have used in my life.

This can't be cheaper to manufacture than paper bags, can it...and you can't compost them (no, PLA is not compostable)

Why is this even a thing?

Sadly most tea bags do in fact contain plastic, and are not compostable. Compostable tea bags will almost definitely say they are compostable on the packaging. As a tea lover though, I recommend loose-leaf tea and using a metal infuser cage or basket! It tastes better, it's better for the environment, and it's better for you (no plastics). The only downside is slightly more cleanup and maintenance.

Even better yet, whole-leaf tea (where the leaves are balled up and dried) -- put a teaspoon or so in the mug, add hot water, leaves unfurl and you can sip the tea off the top. Then when finished, add more water for a second infusion (some teas I can do this all day).

Those are amazing, but I haven't seen all varieties of tea available that way. But I do think that all good teas can be found either loose-leaf or whole-leaf.

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