Study Purportedly Finds Tea Bags Release Micro- and Nanoplastics

Researchers from McGill University examining the effects of plastic teabags have reportedly found that a teabag, when steeped at 95 degrees Celsius, can release “approximately 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nanoplastics into a single cup of the beverage.” Hernandez et al., “Plastic Teabags Release Billions of Microparticles and Nanoparticles into Tea,” Envtl. Sci. & Tech., September 25, 2019. Further, the researchers assert, an “initial acute invertebrate toxicity assessment shows that exposure to only the particles released from the teabags caused dose-dependent behavioral and developmental effects.”