The good news is that most supermarket teabags are safe - although the plastic used to seal some bags are worrying.
But some ‘fancy’ teabags which often present in the shape of pyramids and are made of stiffer, heavier material that are of particular concern. These teabags are often made from nylon but are confused with being made from silk, and can contain huge levels of plastic.
Researchers found that these bags released around 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nanoplastic particles per teabag into the water. These are levels, experts say, which aren’t what you should be consuming on a regular basis.
Perth-based expert author and blogger Lindsay Miles told The Guardian: ‘I’ve been banging on about plastic in tea bags for years. [When I contacted] some of the tea companies, they were saying, ‘people don’t really care’ [about plastics in tea bags] and I’m like, ‘no, people do care, they just don’t know.’
“People may think they’re made of silk, but they’re not.”
