Think twice before brewing that next cup of tea.
Research from Environmental Science & Technology shows that as many as 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nano plastics are released into every cup when plastic tea bags are used. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) both confirmed that the plastics came from the teabag itself after brewing at 95°C.
This study defines microplastics to be very tiny pieces of plastic, from 100nm to 5mm in size, while nano plastics are much smaller with a size of less than 100nm. While a large number of these microplastics are created as is, like in fiber and bead form, oftentimes they are also created through the breakdown of plastic products.
While microplastics have been found to be present all over the food supply chain, what's alarming about this particular study is that the amount of plastic found is several magnitudes higher than normally reported in similar studies. For comparison, initial estimates show that the average American consumes at least 50,000 microplastics every year.
While the health effects of microplastics in the body are still being studied, the possibility of these plastics accumulating is a big concern. From another study published in 2017, ingested microplastics and inhaled nano plastics can have accumulating toxicological effects on the gut and lung, respectively. The capability of microplastics to retain organic pollutants is also an issue that researchers are looking into, although the long-term effects of this phenomenon have yet to be observed.
Reducing microparticle consumption is a challenge but is possible with a few lifestyle changes. As a starting point, avoid food and drink that come into contact with plastic packaging as this easily transfers to what you might consume. To illustrate, drinking from tap water instead of bottled water can reduce the amount of plastic intake from water consumption by over 95%. With marine creatures having a tendency to mistake plastic as food and ingest them as a result, reducing the amount of seafood consumed on a daily basis can also be a good safeguard against microplastic consumption. Avoiding products that heavily use microplastics, such as toothpastes with microbeads, is also another way to reduce the amount of plastics that can possibly be ingested over long-term use.
On a global scale, it will be difficult to eradicate microplastics completely. Being found almost everywhere around the world only shows how deep the plastic crisis is and the urgency in tackling this. From the EU's ban on single-use plastics to city councils blocking Styrofoam food and drink containers, communities are finally starting to take action to curb plastic pollution, although these short-term solutions aren't enough. More efforts should be initiated by the industry to take responsibility for both pre-consumer and post-consumer plastic waste streams.
Unless efforts are made to reduce plastic production altogether significantly, we can expect to see more microplastics in our oceans and bodies over the long run.
