jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Apparently, there is a trend toward making teabags out of plastic, and that may not be a good idea. From NewScience Daily -

"Tea drinkers have been urged to avoid plastic tea bags by researchers who found they shed billions of particles of microplastic into each cuppa. A Canadian team found that steeping a single plastic tea bag at a brewing temperature of 95°C releases around 11.6 billion bits of microplastic – tiny pieces between 100 nanometres and 5 millimetres in size – in a single cup. That is several orders of magnitude higher than other food and drink."

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Oie!
(I wouldn't anyway the old bags are biodegradable.)

Bob Mevis Loc: Plymouth, Indiana

I certainly won't use them. Thanks for the heads up.

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

What is the purpose of a plastic tea bag? Never even heard of it.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

Anytime plastic is heated it begins shedding. Reheating food using plastic bowls in the microwave is just as bad as the teabag thing.
We used this solution for our tea and just buy in bulk. Of course my lady shops for tea at those boutique stores so there is no cost benefit. Just healthier is all.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Metal also sheds a few molecules when heated with water. But many spring waters get their taste from mineral and metal content from the earth so I too would take the metal brew canister over plastic. A traditional tea bag stuffed in the K-cup holder of coffee machine does a good job of brewing also. And if you put ice, lemon etc in the mug or glass you brew yourself a single serving of iced tea that tastes a lot better than instant.
But someone can show hazards for anything in creation - too much oxygen is dangerous also esp if kept up too long.

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

They added plastic to tea bags quite a while ago.....if they were just paper they would have disintegrated when squeezed (who doesn't squeeze their tea bag) same with toilet paper, baby wipes, kitchen towel, make-up wipes etc. It looks like paper but isn't just paper.

That is the problem with some plastics - we are not always aware that they are present.

This is why I hate people who blame Consumers for all the waste problems......we didn't demand it - manufacturer's used it to smarten up their products or minimize service staff. Items once bought loose or by weight, suddenly come in 3 sizes of blister pack that can be picked up by the customer. No waste, no staff handling except zipping the bar code.

Cucumbers wrapped in plastic condoms last 2-3 times as long on the shelf as unwrapped cucumbers. Chopped washed salad in a bag lasts longer than loose lettuce because it is washed in bleach and gassed before sealing) except in the brown liquid at the bottom which is jam packed with anaerobic bacteria. Which means we eat OLD veg not fresh veg, and some of which can poison us.

Once we had cheap food because of seasonality and competition...now we have cheap food from a handfull of companies screwing both the producer and the consumer by demanding longer shelf life and less returns: which is only achievable if you add additives, gasses and wrap everything airtight in plastic.

We do not need alternatives to plastic - we just need a less number of different plastics so that we can achieve 100% recycling. The cost of which should be born by those that keep on wrapping things in plastic.....not those who have little choice when purchasing goods.

Have fun

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Paper cups.. yuck... modern world Ain't Got no Fetchin'.. and to put tea in a plastic bag... unthinkable.

joehel2 Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ

I am not a tea drinker but you can buy reusable plastic tea bags and fill them with loose tea to make a cup of tea. If you have a favorite loose tea that doesn’t come in a bag and you want to pack a tea bag in your lunch box, this is a method.

ltatko

Looks like the PC crowd is at it again!!

Len T.

edrobinsonjr Loc: Boise, Idaho