Is Your Tea Safe? Study Finds Billions of Plastic Particles in Every Cup

Tea has long been considered one of the healthiest and most comforting beverages worldwide. But recent scientific findings suggest your daily brew might come with an unexpected ingredient: microplastics.

A review of multiple studies has revealed that tea bags, particularly those made from plastic materials like nylon or polypropylene, can release massive quantities of microplastics and even smaller nanoplastics when exposed to hot water.

In some cases, the numbers are staggering. Research shows that a single plastic tea bag, when steeped at brewing temperature, can release around 11.6 billion microplastic particles and 3.1 billion nanoplastic particles into a single cup. These particles are so tiny that they are invisible to the naked eye but can still be ingested.