喝袋泡茶就是在吃塑料

原标题：喝袋泡茶就是在吃塑料？！

喝茶摄生，但不管是绿茶仍是红茶，用传统方法泡制茶叶，喝起来都太费时费事，所以很多人转而喝起便利又方便的茶包。可殊不知，这样做，连同茶水一起喝下的，还有数百亿颗塑料微粒！

最新发现标明，一个塑料茶包可能会释出上百亿颗塑料微粒，明显高于一个人全年估量吸取的塑料微粒数量。

加拿大麦吉尔大学的研讨者发现，有的茶包在95摄氏度的热水中能开释出多达116亿颗塑料微粒。

Microplastics are minute fragments of plastic measuring 0.5mm wide or less found in everything from wet wipes to cigarettes.

塑料微粒是0.5毫米或更小的极微小塑料碎片，从湿纸巾到卷烟，遍及存在于一切东西。

Numerous tea bag manufacturers have been working to remove any traces from their products, though some still use plastic to heat seal bags.

许多茶包生产商一直在尽力去除产品中任何的生产过程残留物，不过有些生产商仍在运用塑料对茶包进行热封口。

▲Plastic in tea bags: Brews leak billions of microplastic particles into your cup, study finds (via inews.co.uk)

所以，研讨者选取了4种不同品牌的茶包，去掉了茶包中的茶叶，避免茶叶搅扰试验成果，用包裹茶叶的纸包来进行试验。

Most teabags are made from paper, with a small amount of plastic used to seal them shut. But some premium brands have switched to using greater amounts of plastic mesh for their product instead.

大多数茶包是用纸做的，只用少数塑料封口。但一些高端品牌现已转而在产品中运用更多的塑料网。

This is usually so that the tea bag is held in a pyramid shape, which producers claim helps the tea leaves infuse better.

这一般是为了使茶袋坚持金字塔形状，生产商宣称这有助于茶叶更好地泡制茶水。

The researchers removed the tea and placed the empty teabags in water heated to 95C (203F), as if they were brewing tea.

研讨人员将茶叶取出，将空茶包放入加热至95摄氏度(203华氏度)的水中，就像在泡茶相同。

They found that a single plastic teabag released about 11.6bn microplastic and 3.1bn smaller nanoplastic particles into the hot water. The particles are completely invisible to the naked eye.

他们发现，一个塑料茶包向热水中开释了约116亿颗塑料微粒以及31亿颗更小的纳米塑料颗粒。这些微粒用肉眼是彻底看不见的。

▲Microplastics: Premium teabags leak billions of particles - study (via BBC)

而这些数据明显高于一个人全年估量吸取的塑料微粒数量，也比之前报导的其他食物中塑料的含量高了几个数量级。

This amount is significantly higher than the estimated amount of microplastics particles consumed by a person in an entire year. According to research published earlier this year, the average person eats at least 50,000 particles of microplastic annually and breathes in a similar quantity.

这个含量远远高于一个人全年所耗费的塑料微粒的估量数量。依据本年早些时候宣布的一项研讨，均匀每人每年至少吃进5万颗塑料微粒，呼吸进体内的塑料微粒也差不多是这个数量。

They found that a single bag released more than 11.6bn microplastics, which was “several orders of magnitude higher than plastic loads previously reported in other foods”, according to the study, which was published in the journal of Environmental Science and Technology.

宣布在《环境科学与技能杂志》上的这项研讨称，他们发现，一个塑料茶包袋开释的塑料微粒超越116亿个，“比此前报导的其他食物中的塑料含量高了几个数量级”。

▲Milk? Sugar? Microplastics? Some tea bags found to shed billions of particles (via The Guardian)

塑料微粒遍及存在于咱们日子的环境。

Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic, which the researchers defined as ranging from 100nm to 5mm in size, which are mostly created by the disintegration of plastic litter. Researchers have found microplastics in the air, soil, rivers and the deepest oceans around the world, as well as in tap and bottled water, seafood and beer. Microplastics were also found in human stool samples for the first time in October.

研讨人员将巨细从100纳米到5毫米不等的很小的塑料碎片界说为塑料微粒。这些塑料碎片大多是由塑料废物分化发生的。研讨人员在世界各地的空气、土壤、河流和最深的海洋，以及自来水和瓶装水、海鲜和啤酒中发现了塑料微粒。本年10月，在人类粪便样本中初次发现了塑料微粒。

The Canadian team tested the potential toxicity of the microparticles released from the tea bags by exposing water fleas to the contaminated water, finding the particles had behavioural effects and developmental malformations on the fleas.

加拿大研讨小组经过将水跳蚤暴露在受（塑料微粒）污染的水中，测试了茶包袋中开释的塑料微粒的潜在毒性，发现这些塑料微粒对水跳蚤的行为发生影响以及对它们发生发育畸形影响。

▲Milk? Sugar? Microplastics? Some tea bags found to shed billions of particles (via The Guardian)

世界卫生安排表明，饮用水中的这些塑料微粒不会对人类构成威胁。但该安排也表明，这是根据有限的信息而得出的定论，因而它呼吁在这个问题上做更多研讨。

"We urgently need to know more about the health impact of microplastics because they are everywhere -- including in our drinking water," said Dr. Maria Neira, director of the Department of Public Health, Environment and Social Determinants of Health at the WHO.

“咱们迫切需要更多地了解塑料微粒对健康的影响，由于它们无处不在——包含在咱们的饮用水中，”世界卫生安排公共卫生、环境和健康社会决定因素司司长玛丽亚·内拉博士说道。

▲A single tea bag can leak billions of pieces of microplastic into your brew (via CNN)

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