Should you bag your tea bags?

In 1902, two Milwaukee women applied for a patent for a one-cup, mesh “tealeaf holder.” Four years later, a U.S. tea importer began to send out samples in silk bags instead of tins. Folks plopped the whole thing into their teapot and loved the easy-brewing technique. Those two events are credited with popularizing the tea bag.

Today, Americans consume 3.8 billion tons of tea annually. But news about the menace of the modern tea bag has got a lot of you bagging your favorite beverage. Well, there’s no need — if you have the facts!

The research: Plastic has become a common component of tea bags. So, tea-loving researchers from McGill University tested bags by removing the tea, and then putting them in 203 F water for five minutes. Turns out, a single bag released over 11 billion microplastic and 3 billion nanoplastic particles into the hot liquid!

The risks: Studies have found more than 90% of micro- and nanoplastics leave your body through excretion, but the effect of the remaining 1 billion-plus plastic particles and chemicals per tea bag isn’t clear. We do know ingested plastic has devastating health effects on marine animals. Your best moves:

1. Brew loose tea in unbleached paper or metal tea bombs.

2. Buy teas from companies whose websites say they use only hemp and/or other biodegradable materials in their bags (there are many).

3. Not sure? Cold brew your tea bag (heat extracts more plastic particles), remove it and then heat the tea.

Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Wellness Officer and Chair of Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic.

(c)2019 Michael Roizen, M.D.

and Mehmet Oz, M.D.