<
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-12-commercial-tea-bags-millions-microplastics.html>
"UAB research has characterized in detail how polymer-based commercial tea bags
release millions of nanoplastics and microplastics when infused. The study
shows for the first time the capacity of these particles to be absorbed by
human intestinal cells, and are thus able to reach the bloodstream and spread
throughout the body.
Plastic waste pollution represents a critical environmental challenge with
increasing implications for the well-being and health of future generations.
Food packaging is a major source of micro and nanoplastic (MNPLs) contamination
and inhalation and ingestion is the main route of human exposure.
A study by the Mutagenesis Group of the UAB Department of Genetics and
Microbiology has successfully obtained and characterized micro and nanoplastics
derived from several types of commercially available tea bags. The paper is
published in the journal
Chemosphere.
The UAB researchers observed that when these tea bags are used to prepare an
infusion, huge amounts of nano-sized particles and nanofilamentous structures
are released, which is an important source of exposure to MNPLs.
The tea bags used for the research were made from the polymers nylon-6,
polypropylene and cellulose. The study shows that, when brewing tea,
polypropylene releases approximately 1.2 billion particles per milliliter, with
an average size of 136.7 nanometers; cellulose releases about 135 million
particles per milliliter, with an average size of 244 nanometers; while nylon-6
releases 8.18 million particles per milliliter, with an average size of 138.4
nanometers."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
