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Microplastics and phthalate esters release from teabags into tea drink: occurrence, human exposure, and health risks

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Abstract

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.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was financially supported by Akademie für menschliche Medizin GmbH.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Systems Environmental Health and Energy Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran

    Fatemeh Sadat Kashfi, Azam Mohammadi & Sina Dobaradaran

  2. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health and Nutrition, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran

    Farzaneh Rostami, Arezou Savari & Sina Dobaradaran

  3. Biodiversity, Environment, and Society Research Group, San Ignacio de Loyola University, Lima, Peru

    Gabriel E. De-la-Torre

  4. Akademie Für Menschliche Medizin GmbH, Krauskopfallee 27, 65388, Schlangenbad, Germany

    Jörg Spitz

  5. Workplace Health Promotion Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Reza Saeedi

  6. Department of Health, Safety and Environment, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Reza Saeedi

  7. The Persian Gulf Tropical Medicine Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran

    Mohammadreza Kalantarhormozi & Akram Farhadi

  8. Instrumental Analytical Chemistry and Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), Faculty of Chemistry, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstr. 5, Essen, Germany

    Sina Dobaradaran

  9. Centre for Water and Environmental Research, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstr. 5, 45141, Essen, Germany

    Sina Dobaradaran

  10. Systems Environmental Health and Energy Research Center, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Boostan 19 Alley, Imam Khomeini Street, 7514763448, Bushehr, Iran

    Sina Dobaradaran

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  1. Fatemeh Sadat Kashfi
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  2. Azam Mohammadi
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  7. Reza Saeedi
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  10. Sina Dobaradaran
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Contributions

Fatemeh Sadat Kashfi: Writing-original draft, Software, Analysis; Azam Mohammadi: Writing—original draft, Software, Analysis; Farzaneh Rostami: Sampling, Samples preparation; Arezou Savari: Sampling, Samples preparation; Gabriel E. De-la-Torre: Methodology, Writing—review & editing; Jörg Spitz: Conceptualization, Methodology; Reza Saeedi: Consulting, Writing—review & editing; Mohammadreza Kalantarhormozi: Consulting, Writing—review & editing; Akram Farhadi: Consulting, Writing-review & editing; Sina Dobaradaran: Supervision, Conceptualization, Methodology, Project administration, Final writing polishing.

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Correspondence to Sina Dobaradaran.

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Kashfi, F.S., Mohammadi, A., Rostami, F. et al. Microplastics and phthalate esters release from teabags into tea drink: occurrence, human exposure, and health risks. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 104209–104222 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29726-9

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