Whats in your tea bag? Paper and tea you wish but actually no.
Firstly is your bag made from paper? Are you sure? Because when you think about it if it really was made from paper why doesn’t it go all soggy when you submerge it in boiling water?
Plastic In The Bag
Well it could be because the actual bag that you thought was paper, does in fact contain plastic. This came to light when keen composters found fine plastic mesh in their compost bins. It was the plastic web that holds the teabags together and that doesn’t biodegrade.
The following was taken from the Guardian A report published today by Which? Gardening reveals that teabags produced by top tea manufacturers are only between 70-80% biodegradable. As a result, gardeners are finding the net part of teabags – caused by the inclusion of heat-resistant polypropylene – left on their compost heaps. Which? Gardening contacted the major tea manufacturers to check the content of their products. PG Tips responded: “‘Like most of the teabags in the UK, our teabags are made with about 80% paper fibre, which is fully compostable along with the tea leaves contained in the bag. The remaining packaging includes a small amount of plastic which is not fully biodegradable.”
Plastic Glue To Seal Them
Then there is the sealing. Wikipedia claims “Heat-sealed tea bag paper usually has a heat-sealable thermoplastic such as PVC
Chemical Treatment
OR that the paper has been treated with Epichlorohydrin to make it stronger
In the USA Epichlorohydrin is considered to be a potential carcinogen for purposes of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) hazard communication standard, 29 CFR 1910.1200.
European Statement from Dow Chemical:
“The substance should be regarded as if it is carcinogenic to man. There is sufficient evidence to provide a strong presumption that human exposure to the substance may result in the development of cancer.”
It is also used in epoxy resins, textiles, inks, dyes and rubber. Read more here.
Chlorine Bleaching
And those bags are so white because they have been bleached with chlorine.
All Plastic Bags
So much so you might feel almost relieved to know that some tea bags are actually made from plastic. Just plastic . Those silky pyramids for posh tea may not be silk but synthetic fibres.
Or maybe not. This post claims that chemicals each from the plastic into your te.
Plastic Free Tea Bags
The technology is out there to make plastic free teabags. You can find them here
Loose Tea
if none of the above suit you could always try The only alternative is loose tea. Initially this might seem like a lot of faff. First you will need to source some loose tea. You can find that here
More
Find other sneaky plastics here….
You can see all our hot drink posts here.