The Dangerous Effects of Tea Bags on Your Health: What You Need to Know

01:44 PM

Sunday, May 21, 2023

I wrote – Yasmine El Sawy:

Some people tend to buy tea bags and put them in a cup of hot water quickly, but can this affect the health of the body?

A study conducted by researchers at McGill University in Montreal showed that a single bag of tea can release harmful particles into the cup.

And the researchers reported that it may release 11.6 billion micro- and micro-plastics, not less than 5 mm in length, according to the “Express” website.

Nutritionist Rashi Chaudhary said that tea bags, when placed in hot boiling water, may leave billions of tiny particles of plastic, particularly polypropylene.

The nutritionist added that tea bags contain a chemical called epichlorohydrin, which is a toxic substance that is used to keep tea bags from cutting and crumbling in hot water.

It was found that epichlorohydrin releases very small particles into boiling water, which is a carcinogen that increases the risk of malignant tumors.

Also read: Does tea with milk raise blood sugar?

Dr Kiran Dalal, Dietitian at Fortis Escorts Hospital, said: “Mostly, tea bags contain some kind of coating of dioxin or epichlorohydrin or they are put in chlorine, so when exposed to hot water, they may release those substances into the beverage, thus leading to damage to the body.”

And the nutritionist added: “It is possible that these substances are carcinogenic and contain amounts of toxins that can lead to certain types of cancers in the body.

So what do we do?

Nutrition experts advise using ground tea, beads or tea leaves instead of tea bags, in order to obtain important health benefits without any damage that may amount to cancer, kidney and liver diseases.