Question:
I drink a lot of tea, and my favourite teabag is Kenya Bold. Since reading your article about plastics in teabags (February 12, 2022), I've been emptying the tea out of the bag and putting it in a small sieve before pouring boiling water over it. Would the bag have contaminated the tea, or is this a safe method?
Answer:
Plastic pollution in our environment and food supply is an increasing concern worldwide. That concern has multiplied with the discovery that microplastics - tiny plastic particles - are now found almost everywhere on Earth. Given that research suggests these microplastics may cause chronic inflammation in the human body and increase cancer risk, reducing our microplastic intake appears to be warranted.
As noted in my previous column, many manufacturers use plastics (such as polypropylene) in their teabags. A 2019 Canadian study found that a single plastic teabag released about 11.6 billion microplastic and 3.1 billion nano-plastic particles into each cup at brewing temperature.
A single plastic teabag released about 11.6 billion microplastic particle into each cup.
When boiling water hits the plastic-containing teabag, it causes the breakdown of the plastics, resulting in microplastics leaching into the brewed drink. By removing the tea leaves from the teabag before you brew the tea, you are likely removing the opportunity for this process to occur.
Interestingly, some stores sell Kenya Bold tea as loose-leaf tea. So you could remove the teabag altogether from the equation by buying loose-leaf tea and straining the boiling water through the loose tea.
Choose a tea manufactured in plastic-free teabags, or select a loose-leaf tea with a reusable loose-leaf infuser.
Question:
This story is from the April 16 - 22, 2022 edition of New Zealand Listener.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 16 - 22, 2022 edition of New Zealand Listener.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
A big noise
Scott Kara pays tribute to alternative rock figurehead Steve Albini.
Fiddling on the roof
After the doco recut by Peter Jackson, the original Let It Be returns as odd as ever.
Get with the pilgrim
Australian film-maker Bill Bennett thought turning his Camino de Santiago experience into a movie would be a good walk ruined. But he did it anyway.
The real queen of Bridgerton
Regency women would have a ball if they were transported from 'the Ton' to the present day, author Julia Quinn says.
Setting boundaries
A giant in the philosophy of gender seems unwilling to engage with alternative points of view or the reality of biological sex.
Affair of the heart
Miranda July's second novel, a wild ride through an unconventional relationship, is not for the faint-hearted.
A continent of no laws
A Kiwi investigative journalist has spent 21 years trying to get to the bottom of what many believe is the suspicious death of an Australian scientist in Antarctica.
I'm Jo Peck again
Four weeks after her 60th birthday, Jo Peck's husband of 25 years told her he was seeing someone else. In a new book, she details how shock and disbelief made way for happiness and contentment.
A mayor for everyone
The Far North's first Māori mayor is one of an emerging political generation bringing equity to the forefront. But a government reversal on Māori wards looms as a stumbling block.
We need to talk about dying
Whether by choice or weight of numbers, more of us will die at home in future. And with pressure to ease assisted dying restrictions, the gaps in community-based care need fixing - before time runs out.