r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Feb 25 '25
Health Brewing tea removes lead from water - Researchers demonstrated that brewing tea naturally removes toxic heavy metals like lead and cadmium, effectively filtering dangerous contaminants out of drinks.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2025/02/brewing-tea-removes-lead-from-water/?fj=11.8k
u/mvea Professor | Medicine Feb 25 '25
I’ve linked to the press release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.4c01030
From the linked article:
Brewing tea removes lead from water
Process passively removes significant amount of toxic heavy metals from drinking water
- Researchers tested different types of tea, tea bags and brewing methods
- Finely ground black tea leaves performed best at removing toxic heavy metals
- Longer steeping times helped tea remove larger amounts of contaminants
- Cellulose, or paper, tea bags adsorbed contaminants; nylon and cotton bags did not
Good news for tea lovers: That daily brew might be purifying the water, too.
In a new study, Northwestern University researchers demonstrated that brewing tea naturally adsorbs heavy metals like lead and cadmium, effectively filtering dangerous contaminants out of drinks. Heavy metal ions stick to, or adsorb to, the surface of the tea leaves, where they stay trapped.
The study was published today (Feb. 24) in the journal ACS Food Science & Technology.
588
Feb 25 '25 edited Feb 25 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
408
u/juniper_berry_crunch Feb 25 '25
I wonder why they used bone china. No one I know owns or ever uses bone china for brewing tea.
263
u/StellarJayZ Feb 25 '25
Of course not. You use uranium glass.
The family house has bone china, crystal glassware and actual silver silverware and I think in my entire lifetime it was pulled out and used once.
166
u/Black_Moons Feb 25 '25
Gotta save the good stuff in case the pope comes over and brings important company.
→ More replies (4)71
44
Feb 25 '25 edited Feb 27 '25
[deleted]
→ More replies (9)7
u/Dog_is_my_co-pilot1 Feb 25 '25
I do. A proper cuppa is my go to mod morning. The antioxidant means a lot to me. And green tea slowly release the caffeine so I don’t have as much anxiety with it.
→ More replies (1)6
u/CalledByName Feb 26 '25
Green tea (afaik) doesn't change caffeine release rate, but it does have loads of other stimulants in it that are far more mild than straight caffeine! I love the taste of coffee, but really prefer green tea's stimulant spectrum than coffee's caffeine.
28
u/Profess0r0ak Feb 25 '25
In the UK it’s very common, not sure about other countries
→ More replies (4)18
9
u/Cicer Feb 25 '25
Bone china is just porcelain with very white clay.
7
u/Mr_WillisWillis Feb 25 '25
That “very whiteness” is from the addition of bone to the silica in the clay.
4
u/DeusExSpockina Feb 25 '25
They usually don’t call it bone china anymore because modern people hear bone and freak out. Porcelain is the usual.
The reason? It’s vitrified. After firing it’s basically glass, which means it way more non-porous than ceramic. Makes for a good non-reactive, uncontaminated surface.
→ More replies (1)2
u/SeaBet5180 Feb 25 '25
Bone china doesn't imply ming dynasty vases, most decent teacups and teapots are ceramic and or bonechina?
130
u/platoface541 Feb 25 '25
And the microplastics https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10389239/
→ More replies (1)130
u/ExposingMyActions Feb 25 '25
So tea is still king after water but not tea bags? Dammit, convenience is still societies biggest killer.
106
u/RadicalLynx Feb 25 '25
Depends on the teabags. iirc the brand I drink uses paper folded and knotted with string, no plastic fibers or glue to be concerned about.
42
u/ExposingMyActions Feb 25 '25
Can I get a brand name dropped? Haven’t drunk my remaining teabags and would like to do a comparison
58
u/Casual_Goth Feb 25 '25
Twinings is just paper and string. Or at the Earl Grey ones I buy at the grocery in the US are.
38
u/spudmarsupial Feb 25 '25
Paper, string, and a staple for extra iron.
46
u/Casual_Goth Feb 25 '25
The ones I get don't even have the staple anymore. They run a string through a tiny hole in the paper label. I can just toss the whole thing in my compost bin without having to disassemble anything. It's pretty nifty.
28
u/NorwegianCollusion Feb 25 '25
A staple isn't harming your compost, though. That'll rust away in no time flat.
Sadly, though, even things we think are paper these days can contain plastic fibers.
29
u/seviliyorsun Feb 25 '25
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389421012929#sec0010
the only one that didn't include plastic was lyons. twinings did.
11
u/YourUncleBuck Feb 25 '25
Old study, since now Twinings claims theirs are plant based and biodegradable.
our enveloped tea bags and tags are made using plant based biodegradable materials, which means that they are suitable for home composting.
→ More replies (1)18
u/plappywaffle Feb 25 '25
It's worth noting that doesn't actually say anything about being plastic-free. It can easily be made using (mostly) plant based biodegradable materials, be "suitable" for home composting, and also still contain plastic materials that may or may not biodegrade.
I'm not saying that is absolutely the case here, but I've seen it happen and I would look for specific wording about it being plastic-free if it's a concern for you.
→ More replies (1)7
u/snoopen Feb 25 '25
Are you sure they are paper? Pretty sure my partner drinks Twinings. I took the tea out and lit a tea bag on fire and it smelt a lot like plastic.
→ More replies (6)→ More replies (5)8
10
u/Hydramole Feb 25 '25
Yes in some cases, but in this case loose leaf and a good basket is cheaper
10
u/lockdownfever4all Feb 25 '25
Loose leaf ftw. I just have a glass cup but one side has a perforated crescent glass lip
→ More replies (8)12
u/1970s_MonkeyKing Feb 25 '25
Tea bagging causes a lot of problems.
Ok, joking aside, what does that mean for our landfills? I'm certainly not putting used tea bags in my garden anymore.
→ More replies (8)10
u/LickingSmegma Feb 25 '25
You could just use a metal strainer and buy tea leaves packs without bags.
→ More replies (1)33
u/minuialear Feb 25 '25
To what extent can that be attributed to the tea itself versus the tea bags used or the manufacturing plant?
Like it seems weird to me that Chinese oolong would naturally have more arsenic/etc. than other kinds of tea, but I could definitely see a scenario where generally speaking a lot of food in Chinese factories, including tea, could get shipped out with contaminants. I could also see a situation where a lot of the aluminum you're getting from the tea comes from staples or other parts of the tea bag, rather than the tea itself.
48
u/Difficult-Row6616 Feb 25 '25
soil, different soils contain different heavy metals and plants will readily uptake them. it can be fairly locally specific to, so one specific farm may be better or worse than another. also aluminum is a major component of many soils, clays, and minerals, so no staples needed.
10
u/cloud9ineteen Feb 25 '25
I meant this is exactly why there's arsenic in rice and some cultures rinse rice before cooking and drain the water after.
→ More replies (1)37
u/2074red2074 Feb 25 '25
You rinse rice before cooking because it washes off loose starch. If you don't, your rice will be gummy.
→ More replies (1)19
u/Difficult-Row6616 Feb 25 '25
also because in the milling process sometimes grit gets left behind, and nobody likes crunchy rice. though in America, a lot of rice comes pre rinsed
→ More replies (3)9
u/Reginault Feb 25 '25
Also also also, some rice has a certain bacteria on it that can cause food poisoning >>>IF<<< you leave it out at room temperature for a while after cooking, and rinsing helps reduce that risk. (there's no risk if you're throwing away leftover rice or eating it all).
So it's a triple play to rinse your rice.
6
u/Big_Razzmatazz7416 Feb 25 '25
And almost no tea leaves are labeled as pesticide free
→ More replies (13)145
u/Status-Shock-880 Feb 25 '25
Where does it go?
229
u/privacyplease27 Feb 25 '25
Into the leaves (and then the trash).
→ More replies (2)63
u/mrbananas Feb 25 '25
But what if I eat the leaves?
73
u/BMO888 Feb 25 '25
Extra minerals
24
u/nirmalspeed Feb 25 '25
Hank, you have enough minerals.
11
u/arthurdentstowels Feb 25 '25
Listen Marie, I've told you a thousand times. They are miner..... Wait, you said minerals. You really do love me.
10
4
→ More replies (4)2
u/DoomComp Feb 26 '25
...... You just ate a higher concentration of heavy metals that you filtered out of your water.
Not the best of ideas, perhaps - But if there is no (very low) amount of heavy metals in the water, then it changes nothing.
.... Unless there are a bunch of heavy metals in the leaves to begin with, of course.
Either way - maybe don't eat leaves?
17
→ More replies (2)13
u/Override9636 Feb 25 '25
Heavy metal ions stick to, or adsorb to, the surface of the tea leaves, where they stay trapped.
210
u/keithitreal Feb 25 '25 edited Feb 25 '25
Most tea bags are paper and so biodegradable nowadays but what I didn't realise until recently is that they spray seal the bags with some kind of plastic crap that still releases billions of micro plastics into your brew.
So yeah, if it's not lead it's plastic.
130
u/Visinvictus Feb 25 '25
Use loose leaf tea and a tea ball, problem solved.
23
u/keithitreal Feb 25 '25
Since the furore about micro plastics and tea bags I've been using loose leaf tea and a stainless steel filter/strainer.
No doubt there's something to worry about in the strainer and lead in the tea but what can you do?
→ More replies (1)13
u/Visinvictus Feb 25 '25
Seems like the tea leaves would absorb any extra lead anyways, so as long as you aren't consuming the leaves themselves you are probably good.
8
u/Liefx Feb 25 '25
I'm also surprised at the amount of people who don't buy Reverse Osmosis systems.
We spend so much money on junk but people won't spend 3-500 to buy an RO system for water that they drink all day every day.
I pay someone but I'm sure you can do it yourself for cheaper since it'll just be material costs, but it's only $200 CAD every 18 months for him to change filters and inspect it.
One of the most "worth it" expenses I have.
→ More replies (3)56
u/TotallyNormalSquid Feb 25 '25 edited Feb 25 '25
The summary says nylon and cotton tea bags didn't filter, which makes it sound like it's the paper doing the filtering.
Edit: apparently the summary comment misses that this test was without tea leaves present - tea leaves do do filtering
56
u/Visinvictus Feb 25 '25
The tea leaves do the filtering just fine, my understanding is that they tested different tea bags without tea independently.
After testing different types of bags without tea inside, the researchers found cotton and nylon bags only absorbed trivial amounts of the contaminants. The cellulose bags, however, worked incredibly well.
15
u/Seicair Feb 25 '25
Cotton is pretty much cellulose, I wonder what the difference is between that and the paper that did filter stuff. Surface area or type of fiber maybe.
14
u/zzazzzz Feb 25 '25
the structure of a cotton fiber is very different to a fiber made from pulped up old wood. just because they are made of the same thing does not mean they will behave the same in the slightest
→ More replies (1)2
u/Seicair Feb 25 '25
I agree, but saying “cotton or cellulose” implies cotton isn’t cellulose. I find it odd to differentiate between “cellulose” and “cotton”. Since they’re both cellulose, I would expect the distinction to be “cotton fibers or wood pulp paper”.
It’s a matter of semantics, but semantics are important for clarity.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (1)4
4
3
u/FlyingSagittarius Feb 25 '25
Oh, perfect. I’ll have to get some tea leaves the next time I need to filter do do.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (2)2
u/EterneX_II Feb 25 '25
No, they said that tea leaves do filtering on their own. Then they reported the adsorption properties of the bags, too, to provide a benchmark to compare the tea leaves against.
→ More replies (4)2
u/Chucknastical Feb 25 '25
But the tea ball is made of cadmium and lead.
But the lead comes with free Froghurt!
21
u/stone_opera Feb 25 '25
Clipper tea doesn't use plastic in it's tea bags. They are 100% organic, and it's really really good tea too.
Unfortunately I can't get it here in Canada, but hopefully that is helpful for you!
7
u/mileswilliams Feb 25 '25
Yorkshire tea is the best for the real British pint of tea. 12 sugars half a gallon of milk sucked through one of our 5 teeth :-)
→ More replies (1)12
u/FireMammoth Feb 25 '25
I dont know where youre from but i saw research study looking for microplastics in teabags and basically all best UK tea companies were clear off all plastics. I dont know how accessible UK tea is for you, Twinings brand probably the most popular and wide spread.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (3)12
u/DangerousOutside- Feb 25 '25
What! I thought I was avoiding plastics with the paper bags. Do you happen to know tea brands which are safe or not safe, other than loose leaf? Or have a source that has that info?
11
u/keithitreal Feb 25 '25
In the UK virtually all biodegradable paper bags still have a polypropylene sealant on.
Clipper do proper organic plastic free bags.
→ More replies (1)24
11
u/_-Smoke-_ Feb 25 '25
Awesome. Water filtered with a Puretm filter and then make in a glass teapot with loose leaf tea. I wonder if it has any effect on PFAS which are a higher concern here in Eastern NC than heavy metals?
→ More replies (7)4
2
u/pink_faerie_kitten Feb 25 '25
This is amazing! I can't always afford water filters so knowing most of what I drink everyday is naturally filtered is really good news.
→ More replies (54)2
Feb 25 '25
Do I reintroduce contaminants when I squeeze the liquid out of the bag back into my drink?
1.2k
u/ResponsibilityFew318 Feb 25 '25
I guess I’ll stop eating my tea dry.
199
u/Melissavina Feb 25 '25
Try a pinch between your gums and cheek
58
u/DontDoomScroll Feb 25 '25
I recommend spitting, not swallowing the drip, avoid tannin sickness.
36
→ More replies (1)5
u/junkpile1 Feb 25 '25
As someone that has chewed a lot of tea, I can say it would take a significant amount of tea to give any ill effects.
2
u/inform880 Feb 25 '25
As someone who’s very sensitive to tannins, I’m jealous you can do that without throwing up!
→ More replies (3)13
14
u/GrayEidolon Feb 25 '25 edited Feb 25 '25
So I was confused too.
The metals are transferred from the water to the tea leaves and some of the materials used for tea bags.
So the tea leaves are taking metal out of the tap water, then you throw the tea bag away and drink the tea.
As another user pointed out, there is still the problem of microplastics depending on the tea packaging.
→ More replies (2)4
6
→ More replies (1)2
u/Tankh Feb 25 '25
Well if you don't drink any of the water at all I think you get none of the heavy metals so you might be fine
342
Feb 25 '25
That's so interesting--so they tea leaves absorb the heavy metals?
407
u/CeilingTowel Feb 25 '25
adsorption (note the D!) is just physical sticking to the surface. So they adsorb, not absorb!
it's the same way activated carbon removes odour and contaminants out of the water.
72
u/guave06 Feb 25 '25
Absorbing is for liquids.
→ More replies (2)59
u/ahhhbiscuits Feb 25 '25
Sometimes gases too tho, let's not discriminate pls
67
6
→ More replies (1)5
5
u/Fancy_Mammoth Feb 25 '25
This leaves me with further questions.... Like, are the contaminants sticking because they made contact with the tea leaves, or are they being attracted to the tea leaves in some way? Beyond that, it makes me wonder if tea plants (trees?) have phytoremedial characteristics similar to how sunflowers are capable of absorbing radioactive elements from the ground soil around chernobyl.
→ More replies (1)7
→ More replies (1)3
u/54B3R_ Feb 25 '25
it's the same way activated carbon removes odour and contaminants out of the water.
Which is probably why the black tea performed best
110
u/WhipMaDickBacknforth Feb 25 '25 edited Feb 25 '25
Kinda related, did they control for tea without using tea bags?
Because I'm stupid and impatient, I just flicked through the linked article.
But it didn't look like it controlled for only tea or only paper?Edit: This should explain it:
Heavy metal ions stick to, or adsorb to, the surface of the tea leaves, where they stay trapped.
I found it a bit confusing that the images were all using tea bags.
47
u/qgecko Feb 25 '25
It is confusing. They did control for the tea bags (and found cellulose bags had minimal absorption while nylon/cotton had no absorption). So, you could argue that cellulose tea bags have an additive effect, but only minimally.
11
u/Original_Anxiety_281 Feb 25 '25
The way I read it, the main factor was cellulose absorption, and that the tea type itself hardly changed the results. So, my assumption was you could just use cellulose bags as filters and skip the tea step... hands up shrug emoji
8
u/qgecko Feb 25 '25
The way you read the published article or the news summary? It’s detailed in the ACS article that the bags were tested as a control measure.
7
u/Original_Anxiety_281 Feb 25 '25
I don't have access to the actual article, so yes, I was relying on the news/press release version as listed. Thanks for clarifying. If it was minor, it seems like a weird thing to emphasize or even point out in the news article.
→ More replies (1)3
u/qgecko Feb 25 '25
Agree, it’s weird. But even I found it challenging to interpret their methods and results. I’m not a PhD chemist, but often work with researchers to improve their writing. A lot of research gets misinterpreted because of poor writing. The authors will insist it was written for chemists, not the general public.
→ More replies (5)
398
u/SkylarAV Feb 25 '25
Where does it go though?
575
u/Slggyqo Feb 25 '25
It’s stays with the leaves. So it goes in the trash.
261
u/FatCopsRunning Feb 25 '25
Ahhh, so I should stop sucking on tea bags?
131
u/TheNewMainCharacter Feb 25 '25
But then you won't get that tasty lead
21
u/settlementfires Feb 25 '25
Lead is sweet
→ More replies (1)13
u/Odd_Celebration_1284 Feb 25 '25
lead acetate tastes sweet, metallic lead probably doesn't
5
u/ShockinglyOpaque Feb 25 '25
How do you know unless you try it? (Please don't try it)
5
2
8
→ More replies (2)8
21
u/deaddaddydiva Feb 25 '25
What if I press my tea bags to get every bit of bitter tea out of the sack?
→ More replies (3)28
u/Castaway504 Feb 25 '25
It’s ionic bonds being formed with the tea leaves, so should be fine!
4
u/deaddaddydiva Feb 25 '25
Amazing! Thanks
3
u/Messy-Recipe Feb 25 '25
plus it came from the water anyway, so no worse than plain drinking water if it did go back in
→ More replies (2)3
u/hungry4danish Feb 25 '25
Luckily my city has a compost bin, so in they go. Unluckily it'd be putting lead into the compost.
36
u/ryschwith Feb 25 '25
Presumably they stay stuck to the leaves when you remove them from the tea before drinking. So in the trash, I suppose.
→ More replies (2)63
u/Base30Bro Feb 25 '25
Chemist here
Many organic materials can have metals such as lead and cadmium and mercury adsorb (stick to) to them.
Adsorption is basically atoms becoming attached to a solid* one at a time. This is how activated carbon pulls out lead too.
The metal ion adsorbs to the solids in the tea bag, which are discarded.
8
u/SkylarAV Feb 25 '25
Damn I love tea. Is this true of all different teas?
18
u/settlementfires Feb 25 '25
Sounds like it's a property of plant material in general.
2
u/GrayEidolon Feb 25 '25
Yeah. This little paper has pictures and discussion of surface area of tea leaves.
→ More replies (1)3
u/stone_opera Feb 25 '25
So theoretically, could a pour over coffee do the same sort of filtering as the tea?
6
u/Base30Bro Feb 25 '25
Yep, although theres less contact time in that case so the adsorption wont reach equilibrium.
But coffee waste has seen a lot of research as an adsorbent for heavy metals. I've actually conducted experiments on this stuff in the lab myself if you have any questions
61
u/All-for-the-game Feb 25 '25
That’s also why you aren’t supposed to drink black tea while eating meat/taking iron supplements as the tannins (?) bind to iron preventing absorption
I used to drink a hot cup of earl grey tea with all my meals bc I felt cold all the time due to anemia… don’t do that
30
u/TheLGMac Feb 25 '25
Yep! An hour gap at least between tea and iron sources is recommended https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916522026983
159
u/Simple-Ad-239 Feb 25 '25
Not diwnplaying what they were able to demonstrate, but the title "former PhD student" is hilarious.
→ More replies (2)52
u/kiwison Feb 25 '25
I'm fortunate enough to have so many friends with PhDs. They all say it was easier for them to go through the whole PhD process than thinking about what's next and trying to find postdocs. It's very competitive at that level, so I understand the necessity behind that title.
→ More replies (1)20
u/Rocktopod Feb 25 '25
Wouldn't they be a PHD at that point, not a former PHD student?
Maybe I'm understanding wrong but the latter sounds to me like they dropped out of a PHD program and never finished it.
20
u/BobbleBobble Feb 25 '25
I think in this context theyre trying to say that he conducted and published this research in his former graduate research position (since he's now at DoE)
It's probably just standard university journalism hygiene so there's no ambiguity in case there's IP being filed in parallel
4
u/kiwison Feb 25 '25
You could be right. I just assumed it's a playful touch on their situation. Obviously if they have finished it, they would be doctors. I just assumed the rest of the authors would prefer to work with someone who holds a degree rather than a drop out.
2
u/ben-shndl Feb 25 '25
Hi, first author of the paper here. u/bobblebobble is correct. I did indeed finish my PhD, am now Dr. Ben Shindel (please don't call me that), and I'm not sure why they chose to go with that language.
262
u/Momoselfie Feb 25 '25
Mormons aren't going to be happy about this one.
217
u/InappropriateTA Feb 25 '25
TBF, what are Mormons happy about?
211
u/BigRedSpoon2 Feb 25 '25
Sugar
Its the only vice they are allowed to enjoy in an uncomplicated manner
37
u/DaddyCatALSO Feb 25 '25
I believe they do use cola (from Orson Scott Card commenting about hsi choice of beverage at a writers conference,) and chocolate (from a guy I knew as an undergrad.)
60
u/BigRedSpoon2 Feb 25 '25
I heard its why Crumbl, a mormon cookie brand, makes such overly sweetened cookies. The food youtuber I heard it from claimed to have lived near a mormon community, and said a lot of their food was just really, really sweet, because when its your only vice, you probably have to keep going bigger and bigger.
28
u/kiragami Feb 25 '25
This is why I can never stand them. Far too sweet to be enjoyable. Being raised Mormon however I know very few people actually follow all the rules (like most religions)
12
u/Errrrrrrrrrah Feb 25 '25
Served with a lot of Morman’s who loved Mountain Dew. I would always call them out on it. They were all good dudes for the most part.
→ More replies (2)8
u/settlementfires Feb 25 '25
What about soaking
12
u/BigRedSpoon2 Feb 25 '25
I said uncomplicated for a reason
Soaking is a 3~4 person job that everyone involved in is sworn to secrecy
→ More replies (1)32
u/Mbyrd420 Feb 25 '25
Roughly 3 more things than jehovah's witnesses. They are a profoundly unhappy folk.
22
u/gizamo Feb 25 '25 edited Feb 26 '25
Utahn here. Mormons are generally pretty happy people. Lots of community involvement, large families that seem close, and they tend to engage with non-Mormons a lot.
More relevant to the topic here, many also drink tea. Their book doesn't entirely forbid it. Their Words of Wisdom add-on work says they shouldn't have dependency on hot caffeinated drinks. But, cold tea
is generallycan be fine, even if boiled first, [E: depending on area, bishop, family, etc., but strictly speaking, the church itself is against it].Disclosure: I'm not Mormon. I've been firmly atheist for ~45 years.
Edit: added corrected info from u/Ayellio
8
u/InappropriateTA Feb 25 '25
Yeah, I was just taking a cheap shot and making a lazy joke.
There are happy Mormons and unhappy Mormons. People can take joy in almost anything, who am I to judge others just because they don’t take joy in the same things that I take joy in?
→ More replies (1)3
→ More replies (2)3
u/Ayellio Feb 26 '25
You can't get baptized to become a member if you drink tea, cold or hot. -Former mormon
2
u/gizamo Feb 26 '25
I appreciate your correction. I was actually wondering that when I wrote my comment. Similarly, I remember bishops being much more strict about tea in rural Utah vs in SLC. I'll toss a quick edit in my comment in case others stumble across it. Cheers.
→ More replies (2)4
u/detectivebagabiche Feb 25 '25
According to The Book of Mormon musical, generally pretty happy about Orlando, FL.
53
u/Soontaru Feb 25 '25
Nah, this is great news - it’s proof that soaking has merit!
→ More replies (1)15
87
u/teslasneakthief Feb 25 '25
As Brits everywhere rejoice in another justification to ingest epic amounts of tea.
14
u/Titaniumwo1f Feb 25 '25
Can I clean river from heavy metal just like how Bostonian did?
2
u/videogames5life Feb 26 '25
The british would prefer our waters to be poisoned than give up their tea! -revolutionary war propoganda
29
u/EruantienAduialdraug Feb 25 '25
Especially as black tea was found to be the most effective, and that's far and away the most common type drunk in Britain (as opposed to East Asia, where green tea is far more popular).
→ More replies (2)16
u/rw890 Feb 25 '25
I was about to get out my pen of rage and say no one here drinks black tea, we always have milk. Then I realised what you meant.
3
63
u/vladashram Feb 25 '25
You can also just pour water through a paper filter(like a coffee filter) and have an even greater reduction.
Still does not necessarily make the water safe to drink, just safer*.
13
u/FavoritesBot Feb 25 '25
I wonder if coffee provides similar effect.
10
u/giulianosse Feb 25 '25
Can't read the paper for some reason but on the news article one of the researchers speculate there doesn't seem to be anything unique to tea leaves, it's just that plant matter is a very rough surface on a molecular level, facilitates adsorption and tea infusions are widely used across the world.
I'd say that ground coffee could be used for similar applications. It depends if the surface area of the grounds + paper filter would adsorb as much lead on a rinse as the tea leaves submerged for a prolonged period.
7
u/qgecko Feb 25 '25
The ACS article shows a few different teas were tested and black and green tea was most effective.
→ More replies (1)2
4
u/ben-shndl Feb 25 '25
First author here. You cannot in fact do this; the residence time isn't long enough for this to have an effect. The filter cannot "filter" the metals out of solution, it rather sorbs them to the surface over time.
→ More replies (1)
16
u/FoxFoc Feb 25 '25
Why is everyone mentioning teabags when the linked image shows loose leaves and the second paragraph in the article states tea leaves?
15
u/qgecko Feb 25 '25
Because whomever wrote the news summary didn’t understand that the bags were controlled and cellulose just happen to have slight adsorption of the heavy metals.
→ More replies (2)3
u/ben-shndl Feb 25 '25
Hi! First author here. We tested tea bags as well. Ultimately, how LONG you steep your tea for is much more important than the variety of tea you're using, or whether you use a tea bag as well. But I think ppl are bringing up tea bags because of prior research on microplastic generation from tea bags.
7
Feb 25 '25
[deleted]
→ More replies (1)2
u/ben-shndl Feb 25 '25
Hi! First author here. Ultimately, we believe that it is unlikely that the tea leaves will release substantial amounts of metal content into the water during brewing. Chemical partitioning of the metal ions in solution should heavily favor metal binding TO the tea leaves, not leaching FROM the tea leaves.
6
u/TheJoker1432 Feb 25 '25
Britain building water treatment plants that brew tea before pumping it into residential areas
8
5
u/heygoatholdit Feb 25 '25
Probably good at removing calcium phosphorous and potassium as well.
→ More replies (1)
9
u/mrpointyhorns Feb 25 '25
There was a similar study that showed boiling water for 5 minutes removed 90% of plastics because the impurities in the water trap the plastic. So, assuming it's similar, then hard water is better at reducing the lead than soft water.
I did try it a few times, but it made the water taste flat.
6
u/jecowa Feb 25 '25
Finally a benefit to hard water. It tastes bad, leaves a mineral residue, and it's not good for hair, but at least it boiling it removes lead.
2
7
u/hotfistdotcom Feb 25 '25
someone please make a filter that turns all my water into tea please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please
2
u/E__F Feb 25 '25
Put tea in a drip coffee maker.
If you use a kurig the pod would basically be a filter.
Put a tea bag in a tube and run water through it.→ More replies (1)
2
u/Benny_the_Jew Feb 25 '25
what about cold brew tea?
5
u/qgecko Feb 25 '25
They didn't test cold brew, but they did test room temperature. The chart is a little hard to read, but it looks like ~5-10 min at 85C (typical tea brewing temp) is equivalent to about an hour at room temp. I'm not sure how long cold brew takes, but maybe give it a few hours AND stir occasionally, as that seems to improve the room temperature absorption.
2
2
u/FiddlingnRome Feb 25 '25
You'll never get me to go back to using tea bags. Loose leaf tea makes a better tasting brew. Plus- No plastics either.
2
u/win_awards Feb 25 '25
I am jaded enough at this point that I see articles like this and immediately wonder if they're being funded by producers of whatever was being studied.
2
u/Ok_Independent9119 Feb 25 '25
Saw another article about how making tea adds a ton of micro plastics, so it's heavy metals on one end, plastics on the other. Pick your poison I suppose
2
2
u/BlueSky2777 Feb 25 '25
Found this line important: Cellulose, or paper, tea bags adsorbed contaminants; nylon and cotton bags did not
2
Feb 25 '25
This is being shared specifically to cover up the fact that every major brand of tea is contaminated with pesticides, already, in the bag. Its insidious
2
2
u/ben-shndl Feb 25 '25
Hi, it's me, the first author on the paper, Ben Shindel. AMA!
2
u/ben-shndl Feb 25 '25
u/mvea ping
2
u/mvea Professor | Medicine Feb 25 '25
Your comments were removed for low karma. I’ve just approved them.
2
u/ben-shndl Feb 25 '25
Thanks! I've basically never used reddit before but someone linked me to this.
•
u/AutoModerator Feb 25 '25
Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, personal anecdotes are allowed as responses to this comment. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will be removed and our normal comment rules apply to all other comments.
Do you have an academic degree? We can verify your credentials in order to assign user flair indicating your area of expertise. Click here to apply.
User: u/mvea
Permalink: https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2025/02/brewing-tea-removes-lead-from-water/?fj=1
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.