Systems Environmental Health and Energy Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran.
Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health and Nutrition, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Oct;30(47):104209-104222. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-29726-9. Epub 2023 Sep 12.
Tea, the most common infusion worldwide, is usually sold in teabags due to the ease of usage. The increase in the use of plastic materials in the food packaging industry has led to an increase in released contaminants, such as microplastics (MPs) and phthalates (PAEs), in various food products including teabags. In this research, the abundance and features of MPs as well as PAEs concentration were investigated in 45 teabag samples of different Persian and German brands. The abundance of MPs in the Persian and German teabag samples was averagely 412.32 and 147.28 items/single teabag, respectively. Also, average PAEs levels in the Persian and German teabag samples were 2.87 and 2.37 mg/g, respectively. The predominant size category of MPs was related to 100-250 μm. Fibers and transparent were the dominant shape and color of detected MPs in teabags, respectively. Polyethylene (PE) and nylon were the most common MP polymer types. The most prominent PAEs congeners in teabag samples were diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) and diisobutyl phthalate (DiBP). Furthermore, MP exposure hazard through tea ingestion was analyzed for children and adults. DEHP showed the cancer risk (CR) for children and adults. The findings of this research indicated that high MPs and PAEs levels are released from teabags into tea drinks. Considering a daily drinking of a volume of 150 and 250 mL tea by children and adults, 486 and 810 MPs may enter their bodies, respectively. Thus, tea prepared with teabag-packed herbs may pose a significant health risk for consumers.
茶是全球最常见的冲泡饮品，由于使用方便，通常以茶包形式出售。食品包装行业中塑料材料的使用增加，导致各种食品产品（包括茶包）中释放的污染物（如微塑料（MPs）和邻苯二甲酸酯（PAEs））增加。在这项研究中，调查了 45 个不同波斯和德国品牌的茶包样品中 MPs 的丰度和特征以及 PAEs 浓度。波斯和德国茶包样品中 MPs 的丰度平均值分别为 412.32 和 147.28 个/单个茶包。此外，波斯和德国茶包样品中的平均 PAEs 水平分别为 2.87 和 2.37 mg/g。 MPs 的主要尺寸类别与 100-250 μm 有关。纤维和透明是茶包中检测到的 MPs 的主要形状和颜色。聚乙烯（PE）和尼龙是最常见的 MP 聚合物类型。茶包样品中最突出的 PAEs 同系物是邻苯二甲酸二乙酯（DEHP）和邻苯二甲酸二异丁酯（DiBP）。此外，还分析了通过饮茶摄入 MPs 对儿童和成人的危害。DEHP 对儿童和成人表现出癌症风险（CR）。本研究结果表明，茶包会将大量 MPs 和 PAEs 释放到茶饮料中。考虑到儿童和成人每天饮用 150 和 250 mL 茶，分别有 486 和 810 个 MPs 可能进入他们的体内。因此，用茶包包装的草药冲泡的茶可能会对消费者的健康构成重大威胁。
