Toxic Trade-Off: Tea Bags

Tea bags. We don’t really give them a second thought when we dunk it in our piping hot cup of water. With over 5 billion cups of tea consumed daily around the world, we should care about more than just the plants in that bag.

A 2024 study by the Autonomous University of Barcelona indicates that many commercially available tea bags, especially those made with plastic or containing plastic seams, release billions of microplastics and nanoplastics into your cup of tea when steeped in hot water. 

Most tea bags in use today are made from the polymers nylon-6, polypropylene and cellulose. Even tea bags made of wood (paper) fibers may contain a troubling chemical called epichlorohydrin that’s added to prevent the bag from breaking.

What if I were to tell you that around 96% of the tea sold in the UK market is packaged in these types of bags? England, a country which has a significant tea tradition and consumption, is also leading the way with toxic plastics usage. 

This concern is unfortunately not regional, but instead global. Other countries with strong tea-drinking cultures such as; Ireland, India, Turkey and China are not much different when it comes to avoiding microplastics.  

Discarding old tea bags contributes to the growing problem of plastic waste. Plastics used to make tea bags are not easily biodegradable and can litter landfills for hundreds of years. As these tea bags break down under the sun’s heat, much like they do in hot water, the bags break down into microplastics. These microplastics clog landfills and release harmful chemicals into the soil and groundwater. 

As these tiny particles enter our waterways, they are ingested by marine life. We then ingest these microplastics in fish and other sea food.  

Microplastic particles have been found in human livers, brains, hearts, lungs, blood, and placentas. These particles are carcinogenic, which means they can encourage your body to create cancer cells and studies have proven that humans can get cancer from too many microplastics. 

I’m not sure about you, but I prefer not to harm my endocrine system, which is designed to regulate and filter my blood and body fluids. If my endocrine system is not working properly, my hormones will not function correctly and my natural defenses will weaken, opening me to the possibility of disease.

So, how can we take action?

✨ Request tea companies to transition to plastic-free packaging and avoid using brands that do not change their ways.

✨ While your at it, make sure the tea in the bag is not full of pesticides.
       Check out this “Tea Brands Found to Contain Pesticides and Heavy Metals” by Sadaka Law

✨ Skip single-use tea bags (especially pyramid-shaped ones) made from nylon and thermoplastic fibers. 

✨ Use loose leaf teas brewed in glass, metal or ceramic strainer. 

✨ Purchase your tea in a tin or in bulk at your local coop or natural foods market. 

✨ If you are unable to switch to drinking loose leaf tea brewed in a plastic-free infuser, consider brands that sell bagged teas offering a safer alternative.
These bags are typically non-GMO verified, biodegradable, non-glue based (no metal staples either) and include unbleached hemp fiber, cellulose fiber, and organic cotton.   

✨ Use filtered water to brew your tea. Even if you take steps to avoid microplastics in your tea, tap water itself can be a source of contamination.

We have no affiliation with any of these products and were not asked to make recommendations. We have personally used many and felt compelled to suggest them to you.

If you are fortunate to live near a store that sells bulk, bring your own jars or paper bags instead of buying products in plastic. Live in the country? Support your local farmer. Live in the city? Shop at local farmers markets. You can almost always find great herbs to use for your herbal infusions, aka herbal tea.

As consumers, we are. But we’re not without big industry support and pressure.

Asia is the largest plastics producer in the world. China alone accounted for 32 percent of global production in 2023. In recent years, China produced between six and 12 million metric tons of plastic products each month. North America ranks second worldwide in terms of plastic production.

As global plastics production has increased, the United States has played a major role in the industry. Many of the world’s largest plastic manufacturers are based in the US, such as Dow Chemical and the ExxonMobil chemical division. In 2023, North America accounted for 17 percent of global plastic materials production.

According to Earth.org’s website, 

“Launched in 2019 by the American Chemistry Council (ACC), a major plastics trade association, the Alliance to End Plastic Waste was publicized as a campaign aimed at shifting the conversation “away from short-term simplistic bans of plastic.” Alliance members, which include Chevron Phillips Chemical, ExxonMobil, Dow Chemical, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, Procter & Gamble and Shell, pledged $1.5 billion in clean-up efforts primarily concerning waste collection and recycling. To date, they have provided only one-fourth of that funding, according to Greenpeace.”

Of the 400 million tons of plastic globally produced annually, only 9% is successfully recycled.

Remember, the best effort is your spending habits. 

There was an effort to try to limit the amount of plastics manufactured globally. Unfortunately, the global plastic pollution treaty talks at the INC-5 meeting failed during Fall 2024. While there are talks of instituting production caps and agreeing to phase out certain chemicals and products, it has not been easy to bring 170 nations and 440 organizations into a uniformed agreement. To add to the pressures of big oil and chemical influence, the Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL) reported there were over 220 fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists registered to attend the INC-5 meeting, representing the largest single delegation at the talks. To date, no agreement has been reached.

At the current rate, global plastic pollution could triple by 2040 unless we take immediate action. Over the past five years, the number of national and voluntary actions to tackle the problem has increased by 60%. Despite this, plastic pollution has continued to increase by 50%.

There is hope and it resides in our spending habits and the choices we make every day. Don’t settle. You can make a difference in your health and that of your families, your communities, your flora and fauna neighbors, your planet, and the seven generations yet to come.

• Ali, T., Habib, A., Muskan, F., Mumtaz, S., & Shams, R. (2023). Health risks posed by microplastics in tea bags: microplastic pollution – a truly global problem. International Journal of Surgery, 109(3), 515–516. https://doi.org/10.1097/js9.0000000000000055
• Gooya Banaei et al, Teabag-derived micro/nanoplastics (true-to-life MNPLs) as a surrogate for real-life exposure scenarios, Chemosphere (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.143736
• Fox, E. (2025, January 23). Is there plastic in your tea? — Beyond plastics – Working to end Single-Use Plastic pollution. Beyond Plastics – Working to End Single-Use Plastic Pollution. https://www.beyondplastics.org/fact-sheets/microplastics-in-tea
• Team, W. C., & Team, W. C. (2022, March 15). The microplastic in your tea bag and how to avoid it. Waka Coffee & Tea. https://www.wakacoffee.com/blogs/coffeelifeblog/the-microplastic-in-your-tea-bag-and-how-to-avoid-it
• Leasca, S. (2025, January 8). Your tea bag is likely releasing billions of microplastic particles, according to a new study. Food & Wine. https://www.foodandwine.com/microplastics-in-tea-bags-study-8770478
• De Barcelona, U.-. U. A. (n.d.). Commercial tea bags release millions of microplastics when in use. UAB Barcelona. https://www.uab.cat/web/newsroom/news-detail/-1345830290613.html?detid=1345940427095
• Hartman, A. (2025, February 20). Microplastics Everywhere: How to detox and shield your body. Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine. https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/microplastics-everywhere/
• Staff, M. M. (2024, July 10). Microplastics in tea? How to brew a Non-Toxic cup of tea. Million Marker. https://millionmarker.com/blogs/wellness-blog/microplastics-in-tea