Healthy tea Poles drink this tea a lot. May contain microplastics. The chemist warns against this sign on the packaging. “A lot of people get it wrong.”

• Popular tea bags, especially pyramid-shaped ones, can release microplastics into the drink.
• Chemist Sylwia Panek warns that the “plant origin” label on the packaging may be misleading.
• Some “plant-based” materials, such as polylactide (PLA), can still release harmful particles.
• Find out why loose leaf tea may be a safer choice and what to pay attention to!

Poles drink this tea a lot. May contain microplastics

Tea bags have been one of the most popular and most frequently chosen drinks when shopping for years. It has successfully replaced traditional loose leaf tea and this is probably due to the fact that it is simply much easier to brew. Just pour hot water over the bag and after a few minutes the tea is ready. You don’t have to use infusers, a strainer or worry about coffee grounds. After brewing, the bag is simply thrown into the trash, which is very practical. However, there has been talk about the potential of this type of tea for a long time. It was mainly about the materials used to produce these bags. Many tea bags, especially “pyramid” or unusually shaped ones, contain microplastics (e.g. polypropylene), which may be released into the drink during brewing. Studies have shown that one bag can release billions of micro- and nanoplastic particles. And although the producers’ approach has evolved over time and many of them have decided to follow the ecology movement, unfortunately you can still find “harmful” tea on the market. This topic was raised on Instagram by chemist Sylwia Panek.

The information on tea packaging can be misleading

In one of her posts on Instagram, the expert touched on the topic of tea in bags.

Some time ago there was a lot of news about tea bags releasing microplastics. It’s true, manufacturers often reinforced them with plastics – the cellulose itself easily disintegrated in contact with hot water, which made us, consumers, dissatisfied. Tea bags were also made entirely of plastic, e.g. pyramid bags made of PET.

– writes the chemist. She then mentioned the change in materials used by tea bag makers.

Currently, many manufacturers have changed the material of their bags to plant-based ones. But does plant-based always mean better? “Plant-based” – sounds good, right? But this slogan does not automatically mean that tea bags are plastic-free. And a lot of people get it wrong.

– warns Sylwia Panek.

You can also make plastics from plants! (…)An example is polylactide PLA, which is obtained, for example, from sugar cane. It is of plant origin, but does not decompose quickly in nature. If we see information on PLA packaging that it is compostable, it is usually in industrial conditions, not in a home composter. And in hot water it will release particles, just like plastics obtained from crude oil.

– he adds. Finally, the chemist notes that, of course, not all teas are in bags. He only questions the imprecise nature of the term “plant raw material” on tea packaging and points out that it is definitely safer to simply drink loose leaf tea.

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