Microplastics Are around us – In the air we breathe, In sea and riversThey have been found In shark courageAnd inside growing plants.
They are also inside humans: In our blood, AccumulateAnd even In our testicles,
Therefore, it is hardly surprising to learn that a major means of entering the body is through the fluids that we drink. Previous studies have established that microplastics are present in both tap water And bottled waterBut new research has shown that hot drinks can be a great source of already felt microplastics.
A research team on University of birmingham A 155 common soft drinks including hot and cold drinks were tested for microplastic to get a picture of average human risk through a realistic spectrum of daily drinks available in a country.
The study is believed to be the first of its kind, found that the highest concentration of microplastics was in warm Tea And warm Coffee,
The study also tested iced tea and coffee for microplastics, but found quite low, contributing to the level of microplastic used to make warm drinks that suggest high temperatures and processes that end up in the product.
The team assessed a total of 31 different types of drinks from popular UK brands, all purchased from supermarkets and coffee shops in 2024. These included hot and iced coffee, hot and iced tea, juice, energy drinks and soft drinks.
The samples were filtered, and then microplastic count was determined through microscope imaging. The cold drink was immediately filtered, while the hot drink was allowed to cool for 30 minutes before analysis.
In a disposable cup, hot tea has the highest level of microplastics (MPS) of the highest level compared to 14MPS per cup for glass cup. The more expensive tebags lit up the largest amount of plastic, the study found that on an average 24 to 30 MPs per cup.
Similarly, the research team stated that for hot coffee, their findings “strongly suggests that disposable cup is a primary source of materials. [microplastics] In our hot coffee samples ”.
As not all samples were not cup-shaped, the team expressed its overall conclusions per liter in microplastics.
- Hot Tea: 49 to 81 MPs per liter
- Hot Coffee: 29 to 57 MPs per liter
- Iced Tea: 24 to 38 MPs per liter
- Iced Coffee: 31 to 43 MPs per liter
- Fruit juice: 19 to 41 MPs per liter
- Energy drinks: 14 to 36 MPs per liter
- Soft drinks: 13 to 21 MPs per liter
The authors stated that his study “for the first time proves that assessment of risk through drinking water can only reduce the risk introduced to humans by high microplastics circulation in other drinks”.
Same team Research published in 2024Revealing the average microplastics concentration in tap water (24 to 56 MP per liter) was “statistically uninterrupted” in bottled water (26 to 48 MP per liter).
He said that the new research “acts as an important step towards better understanding of the limit of contact of MPs under real -life scenarios, and advocates more comprehensive studies for accurate risk evaluation of consumption of MPs through dietary sources, to enable comprehensive environmental and public health interventions.”
He said: “Our results also confirmed the plastic packaging material as a major source of MPs for beverages studied. Compared to the iced version of the same drink, the high concentrations of MPs in hot coffee and tea were detected, which highlights the role of temperature in increasing the release of MPs.”