Hidden Risk in Your Tea Bag: Microplastic Pollution

Your tea might not be as harmless as you think- discover how billions of plastic particles from tea bags may enter your body with every sip.

Highlights:

Polymer tea bags release billions of micro and nanoplastic particles during brewing
These particles can penetrate human intestinal cells, even reaching the cell nucleus
Chronic exposure to such pollutants highlights the urgent need for better regulations and testing standards

Polymer-based commercial tea bags emit millions of nanoplastics and microplastics when infused, revealed UAB researchers. The work demonstrates for the first time how these particles may be absorbed by human intestinal cells, allowing them to enter the bloodstream and travel throughout the body.

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‘A single cup brewed with a polymer tea bag can release over a billion plastic particles. That’s like sipping a microscopic plastic soup! #microplastics #teabaghazard #medindia’

Human Exposure to Micro and Nanoplastic (MNPL) Pollution

Plastic trash contamination is a serious environmental issue with far-reaching consequences for future generations' well-being. Food packaging is a major source of micro and nanoplastic (MNPL) pollution, with inhalation and ingestion being the primary modes of human exposure.

The Mutagenesis Group at the UAB Department of Genetics and Microbiology successfully obtained and analyzed micro and nanoplastics produced from a variety of widely available tea bags. The work was published in the journal Chemosphere ().

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Tea Bags Pose Micro and Nanoplastic Pollution Hazard

The UAB researchers discovered that when these tea bags are used to make an infusion, massive numbers of nano-sized particles and nanofilamentous structures are discharged, posing a significant risk of MNPL exposure.

The tea bags used in the study were constructed of the polymers nylon-6, polypropylene, and cellulose. According to the study, when tea is brewed, polypropylene releases approximately 1.2 billion particles per milliliter, with an average size of 136.7 nanometers; cellulose releases approximately 135 million particles per milliliter, with an average size of 244 nanometers; and nylon-6 releases 8.18 million particles per milliliter, with an average size of 138.4 nanometers.

To characterize the various types of particles in the infusion, advanced analytical techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV), and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) were used.

"We have managed to innovatively characterize these pollutants with a set of cutting-edge techniques, which is a very important tool to advance research on their possible impacts on human health," Alba Garcia, a scientist at UAB, stated.

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Micro and Nanoplastic Interactions with Human Cells

The particles were labeled and introduced for the first time to various types of human intestinal cells in order to analyze their interaction and potential cellular internalization. The biological interaction investigations revealed that mucus-producing intestinal cells had the largest uptake of micro and nanoplastics, with particles even penetrating the cell nucleus, which contains the genetic material.

The findings imply that intestinal mucus plays an important role in the uptake of these pollutant particles, highlighting the need for additional research into the implications of chronic exposure on human health.

"It is vital to create standardized test methods to assess MNPL contamination emitted by plastic food contact materials, as well as regulatory strategies to effectively mitigate and reduce this contamination. "As the use of plastic in food packaging grows, it is critical to address MNPL contamination to ensure food safety and public health," the researchers write.

Reference:

Teabag-derived micro/nanoplastics (true-to-life MNPLs) as a surrogate for real-life exposure scenarios - (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39542373/)

Source-Medindia

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