Are There Microplastics in Your Tea Bags and Bottled Water?

Are There Microplastics in Your Tea Bags and Bottled Water?

Yes, and the amounts are higher than most people expect. Plastic tea bags shed billions of particles per cup when steeped in boiling water, and bottled water carries hundreds of thousands of particles per liter on average. Paper tea bags and tap water in a glass or steel container cut that exposure close to zero.

How Plastic Gets Into Your Tea

Many "silky" pyramid tea bags are made from nylon, PET, or a plastic called polylactic acid, not paper. When you pour boiling water over one of these bags, the heat breaks the plastic down at the surface and releases particles directly into your cup.

A 2019 study from McGill University steeped single plastic tea bags in water at brewing temperature and found each bag released over 11 billion microplastic particles and 3 billion smaller nanoplastic particles into that one cup. A December 2024 study from the Autonomous University of Barcelona measured a similarly wide range, from 8 million to 1.2 billion particles per milliliter of steeping water, depending on the bag material and how long it steeped.

Paper tea bags without a plastic sealant, and loose leaf tea brewed in a metal infuser, do not have this problem. The particles come from the bag material itself, not the tea leaves.

Bottled Water Has the Same Issue, From a Different Source

A 2024 study testing bottled water found an average of roughly 240,000 micro and nanoplastic particles per liter. Most of that came from polyamide, polystyrene, and PET, the same plastics used in the bottle, the cap liner, and the manufacturing equipment.

The particles are not a sign of a contaminated or defective bottle. They come from the packaging process itself, which means the issue applies fairly evenly across brands that use plastic bottles.

What This Actually Means

Researchers are still working out what happens when the body takes in this many microplastic and nanoplastic particles over time. Some studies have found an association between microplastic exposure and markers of inflammation, but this is an active area of research, not a settled conclusion, and it is not the same as saying a specific brand of tea or water causes harm.

What is established is the particle count itself: plastic tea bags and bottled water measurably add plastic to what you drink, at levels that paper tea bags and non-plastic water containers do not.

How to Cut Your Exposure

• Switch to paper tea bags without a plastic mesh or sealant, or use loose leaf tea with a stainless steel infuser.
• Avoid pouring boiling water directly over a pyramid-style or "silky" tea bag. Heat is what triggers the particle release.
• Drink tap water filtered at home in a glass or stainless steel container instead of single-use plastic bottles, where your water source allows it.
• If you do buy bottled water, store it away from heat. Heat speeds up the breakdown of the plastic and increases particle shedding.

For more on cutting plastic out of everyday routines, see Plastic-Free Kitchen Essentials and PFAS in Your Kitchen, Beyond Teflon.

The Bottom Line

Plastic tea bags and bottled water both add measurable amounts of microplastic and nanoplastic particles to your drink, and the swap to paper tea bags or loose leaf tea, plus a glass or steel water container, removes most of that source in one move. It costs nothing extra and takes no real effort, which makes it one of the easier changes to make.