Microplastic contamination in some herbal teas and human risk assessment: Türkiye

Over the past ten years, plastic pollution has become a prominent and concerning environmental problem that our society must address. This study focuses on packaged herbal tea, investigating the prevalence and effects of microplastics (MPs) on selected herbal teas (green tea, sage tea, linden tea, and chamomile tea). This study offers the first information on MP pollution in four packaged herbal teas from five Turkish brands (A, B, C, D, and E). A total of 20 samples belonging to 5 brands were analyzed. The analyses revealed the presence of MP fibers in all the teas studied. In examining 4 herbal teas from a single brand, MPs were detected in most brewed teas except for the E brand. The highest particle number was determined in Brand A, linden tea, and tea infusions brewed for 5 min. The chemical composition of these MP polymers consisted of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyacrylonitrile (PAN). The size of MPs ranged from 35.67 to 604.87 μm. Based on the MP contamination factor (MPCF) classification, herbal tea brands and tea types had a very high level of contamination with MPs. The mean polymer hazard index (PHI) of all brands and all tea types was calculated as 4.15 and 6.47, respectively. Compared to males, females were subjected to higher MP loads.