According to a research result that emerged today, microplastic was found in the types of tea bags sold by many brands in Turkey and preferred because it is practical. Moreover, the numbers announced are not insignificant.
There are 13 thousand microplastics in an average tea bag!
According to the news shared by Dünya Newspaper, a high amount of microplastics were detected in tea bags at the end of a study conducted at Sakarya University. In animal studies, the effect is stated to be deadly. Because more than 2,000 sea creatures have been identified so far. It is also stated that it may have adverse effects such as reproductive abnormalities in humans.
In this research, a trial product was purchased from each of 11 different brands that sell tea bags in Turkey. According to the detection, 4 of them were made of 100 percent cellulose, while 7 of them were found to contain plastic.
Microplastic found in a human lung for the first time!
Scientists have raised the alarm for microplastic pollution. Moreover, it was shared that it was detected in the human lung for the first time.
Sakarya University Faculty of Engineering Department of Environmental Engineering Faculty Member Assoc. Meral Yurtsever said the following about her research within the scope of the TÜBİTAK (118Y515) project:
I saw that all of the 11 teapot bags I examined were plastic-added and these plastics were polyester, polypropylene, and polyethylene. We found that on average, 13 thousand microplastic particles from an infuser bag pass into our beverage, namely tea.
Here, with the technique I used in my review, we can detect microplastic pieces up to 3 micrometers in size. In other words, we can say that about 13 thousand microplastics between 3 micrometers and 5 millimeters pass into the tea.
There is also a new generation of new trendy tea bags. Stick teas, which I call bag tea. Pen is also called tea. When we look at them, they look like a stick and have holes, and there is tea inside. When we analyzed it, we saw that it is covered with polypropylene material, and plastic is released into the tea we drink.
In fact, it would be more correct for the consumer to turn to products that do not contain much packaging. We can prefer bulk teas. Tea bags, okay, their practicality cannot be denied, but they can really have an impact and burden on the environment and people. Not just in terms of microplastic pollution. When we think of tea bags, those additional bags, labels, staples or glue, cotton thread, etc. When we think about it, we produce extra garbage, but when we use bulk tea, we take it directly and brew it in a teapot.
What do you think about this subject? Don’t forget to share your views with us in the comments!