Tea bag#Plastics

{{Short description|Small sealed bag or packet containing tea leaves}}

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| caption1 = Commonly shaped tea bags

| image2 = Teebeutel Polylactid 2009.jpg

| caption2 = Tetrahedron-shaped tea bags made of polylactide (PLA), a bioplastic, shown here containing dried peppermint leaves

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| caption3 = A tea bag being removed from a mug to stop the brewing process

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A tea bag (or teabag) is a small, porous, sealed bag or packet typically containing tea leaves (Camellia sinensis) or the leaves of other herbs, which is immersed in water to steep and make an infusion. Originally used only for making tea, they are now made for other tisanes (herbal "teas") as well.

Tea bags are commonly made of filter paper or food-grade plastic, or occasionally of silk cotton or silk. The tea bag performs the same function as a tea infuser. Tea bags can be used multiple times until there is no extraction left. Some tea bags have an attached piece of string with a paper label at the top that assists in removing the bag, while also displaying the brand or variety of tea. There are also special tea filters that can be used to pour loose tea into and brew it in a bag in a cup.

History

Tea bag patents date from 1903, when Roberta Lawson and Mary McLaren, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, were granted US patent 723287 for a Tea Leaf Holder, which they had filed in 1901.{{cite web|title=Tea-leaf holder|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US723287|publisher=USPTO|access-date=25 October 2013}} US patent 723287 was issued on MAR. 24, 1903 to R. G.LAWSON & M. McLAREN for a 'novel tea-holding pocket constructed of open-mesh woven fabric, inexpensively made of cotton thread'. The first modern tea bags were hand-sewn fabric bags. Appearing commercially around 1904, tea bags were successfully marketed in about 1908 by Thomas Sullivan, a tea and coffee importer from New York, who shipped his silk tea bags around the world.{{cite magazine|last1=Begley|first1=Sarah|title=The History of the Tea Bag|url=https://time.com/3996712/a-brief-history-of-the-tea-bag/|magazine=Time|date=3 September 2015}} A popular legend states that this was accidental; the loose tea was intended to be removed from the bags by customers, but they found it easier to brew the tea with the tea leaves still enclosed in the porous bags.{{cite web |last=Stone |first=Sarah |url=https://gizmodo.com/how-the-tea-bag-was-invented-1700351584 |title=How the Tea Bag Was Invented |website=Gizmodo |date=27 April 2015 |access-date=2025-04-02}}{{cite book |title=Inventive Genius |publisher=Time-Life Books |location=New York |year=1991 |isbn=0-8094-7699-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/inventivegenius00time/page/99 99] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/inventivegenius00time}} The first tea bag packing machine was invented in 1929 by Adolf Rambold for the German company Teekanne.{{cite news |last=Rexing |first=Bernd |url=https://www1.wdr.de/stichtag5332.html |title=14. Mai 1996 - Teebeutel-Entwickler Adolf Rambold stirbt |trans-title=May 14, 1996 - Tea bag developer Adolf Rambold dies |work=WDR |date=2011-05-14 |access-date=2025-04-02 |language=de}}

The heat-sealed paper fiber tea bag was patented in 1930 by William Hermanson.{{cite web |last=Bloxham |first=Andy |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2120094/Tea-bag-to-celebrate-its-century.html#prof |title=Tea bag to celebrate its century |work=The Telegraph |date=2008-06-13 |access-date=2025-04-02 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240520220209/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2120094/Tea-bag-to-celebrate-its-century.html |archive-date=2024-05-20 |url-status=live}} The now-common rectangular tea bag was not invented until 1944. Prior to that, tea bags resembled small sacks.Dubrin, Beverly (2010). Tea Culture: History, Traditions, Celebrations, Recipes & More. Charlesbridge Publishing, p. 35. {{ISBN|1607343630}}

Production

=Teas=

A broad variety of teas as well as other infusions, like herbal teas, are available in tea bags. Typically, tea bags use fannings, the left-overs after larger leaf pieces are gathered for sale as loose tea, but some companies sell teabags containing whole-leaf tea.{{cite news |last=Fabricant |first=Florence |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/09/dining/food-stuff.html |title=Whole Leaves, No Strings For a New Tea Bag |work=The New York Times |date=2000-02-09 |access-date=2025-04-02 |url-access=registration |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241204064305/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/09/dining/food-stuff.html |archive-date=2024-12-04 |url-status=live}}

= Shapes and material =

File:Irish Teabag.jpg

File:Чайный пакетик.tif

Traditionally, tea bags have been square or rectangular in shape. They are usually made of filter paper, a blend of wood and vegetable fibers related to paper found in milk and coffee filters. The latter is bleached pulp abaca hemp, a plantation banana plant grown for its fiber, mostly in the Philippines and Colombia. Some bags have a heat-sealable thermoplastic such as PVC or polypropylene as a component fiber on the inner tea bag surface, making them not fully biodegradable.{{cite news |last=Smithers |first=Rebecca |title=Most UK teabags not fully biodegradable, research reveals|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jul/02/teabags-biodegradeable |work=The Guardian |date=2 July 2010}}{{cite news |url=https://www.which.co.uk/news/2010/07/composting-teabags-218651/ |title=Composting teabags |date=2010-07-02 |work=Which? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110415101449/https://www.which.co.uk/news/2010/07/composting-teabags-218651/ |archive-date=2011-04-15 |url-status=dead}} Some newer paper tea bags are made in a circular shape.

Tetrahedral tea bags were introduced by the PG Tips brand in 1997.{{cite web |title=PG Tips reclaims number one position with pyramid teabag |url=https://www.marketingweek.com/pg-tips-reclaims-number-one-position-with-pyramid-teabag/ |website=Marketing Week |date=22 April 1999 |access-date=4 May 2021}} They are typically made of nylon, soilon (PLA mesh made from corn starch),{{cite web|url=http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2008/0017043.html |title=Tea Stick Brewing Package and Method |publisher=Freepatentsonline.com |access-date=2018-08-16}} or silk. Nylon is non-biodegradable, so silk is preferred by environmentalists.{{cite news

| last = Fabricant

| first = Florence

| title = Tea's Got a Brand New Bag

| work = The New York Times

| date = September 13, 2006

| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/13/dining/13tea.html

}} PLA on the other hand is biodegradable, but is not compostable.

Empty tea bags are also available for consumers to fill with tea leaves themselves. These are typically open-ended pouches with long flaps. The pouch is filled with an appropriate quantity of leaf tea and the flap is closed into the pouch to retain the tea. Such tea bags combine the ease of use of a commercially produced tea bag with the wider tea choice and better quality control of loose leaf tea.

== Plastics ==

In 2017, Mike Armitage, a gardener in Wrexham, UK, found that tea bags left a plastic residue after being composted. He started a petition urging Unilever to remove plastic from bag production.{{cite web |url=https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/remove-plastics-from-tea-bags |title=Remove plastics from PG Tips tea bags |work=38 Degrees |access-date=2025-04-02}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-42412492|title=Teabags 'a cause of plastic pollution'|date=2017-12-19|work=BBC News|access-date=2018-03-26}}{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43224797 |title=PG Tips teabags to be made plastic-free |date=2018-02-28 |work=BBC News |access-date=2018-03-26}} In January 2018, Co-op Food announced that they were removing plastic from their own brand 99 tea bags in conjunction with their supplier Typhoo.{{Cite news |url=https://www.co-operative.coop/media/news-releases/the-new-green-tea-co-op-brews-up-solution-to-plastic-tea-bags |title=The New 'Green' Tea: Co-op Brews Up Solution To Plastic Tea Bags |date=2018-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326202826/https://www.co-operative.coop/media/news-releases/the-new-green-tea-co-op-brews-up-solution-to-plastic-tea-bags |archive-date=2018-03-26 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |last=Smithers |first=Rebecca |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/28/teabags-plastic-free-co-op-eco-friendly|title=An eco-friendly cuppa? Now teabags are set to go plastic-free|date=2018-01-28|work=The Guardian |access-date=2018-03-26}} In February 2018, PG Tips announced that their pyramid bags would now use corn starch adhesive in place of polypropylene.{{cite web |url=http://www.pgtips.co.uk/article/detail/846805/what-were-doing |title=What We're Doing with Our New Decaf Tea Blend |work=PG Tips |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324044709/http://www.pgtips.co.uk/article/detail/846805/what-were-doing |archive-date=2018-03-24 |url-status=dead}}{{cite news |last=Smithers |first=Rebecca |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/28/pg-tips-announces-switch-to-plastic-free-fully-biodegradable-teabags |title=PG tips announces switch to plastic-free fully biodegradable teabags |date=2018-02-28 |website=The Guardian |access-date=2018-03-26}}

Microplastics may be found in the tea meant for human consumption. A 2019 study showed that "steeping a single plastic teabag at brewing temperature ({{Convert|95|C|F|disp=x|; }}) releases approximately 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nanoplastics into a single cup of the beverage".{{cite news |last=Chung |first=Emily |title=Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/tea-bags-plastic-study-mcgill-1.5295662 |access-date=2025-04-02 |work=CBC News |date=25 September 2019}}{{cite journal |vauthors=Hernandez LM, Xu EG, Larsson HC, Tahara R, Maisuria VB, Tufenkji N | title = Plastic Teabags Release Billions of Microparticles and Nanoparticles into Tea | journal = Environmental Science & Technology | volume = 53 | issue = 21 | pages = 12300–12310 | date = 25 September 2019 | doi = 10.1021/acs.est.9b02540 | pmid = 31552738 | bibcode = 2019EnST...5312300H | s2cid = 202761863 | url = https://figshare.com/articles/Plastic_Teabags_Release_Billions_of_Microparticles_and_Nanoparticles_into_Tea/9901514 }} A 2021 study analyzed purportedly cellulose tea bags and found that 15 of the 22 bags tested also contained polyester, polyethylene or polypropylene, which are known to shed microplastic fibers.{{Cite journal |last=Yurtsever |first=Meral |date=2021-05-11 |title=Are nonwoven fabrics used in foods made of cellulose or plastic? Cellulose/plastic separation by using Schweizer's reagent and analysis based on a sample of tea bags |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0957582021002482 |journal=Process Safety and Environmental Protection |volume=151 |pages=188–194 |doi=10.1016/j.psep.2021.05.016|bibcode=2021PSEP..151..188Y |s2cid=236273472 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.womenabout.net/food-health/bags-of-tea-are-dangerous-nearly-13000-microplastic-particles-detected-14116.html |title=Bags of tea are dangerous! Nearly 13,000 microplastic particles detected |work=Women About |date=2022-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220617114308/https://www.womenabout.net/food-health/bags-of-tea-are-dangerous-nearly-13000-microplastic-particles-detected-14116.html |archive-date=2022-06-17 |url-status=usurped}} Although cellulose is considered to be biodegradable, the plastic components are not and release microplastics to the environment when composted.

Recreational and practical applications

Decorative tea bags have become the basis for large collections and many collectors collect tea bags from around the world. Tea bag collector clubs are widely spread around the world and members consist of people interested in items related to teas. Online collector clubs often include catalogs of tea bags,{{Cite web|url=https://colnect.com/teabags|title=Tea Bags on Colnect|website=colnect.com|access-date=2018-12-18}} as well as collection tracking tools. In addition, tea bag collectors often collect other tea-related items such as labels.{{Cite web|url=https://colnect.com/en/tea_labels|title=Tea Labels on Colnect|website=colnect.com|access-date=2019-03-01}} These websites also provide forums for discussions and trade arrangements between collectors.

Teabag folding began in the Netherlands and is often credited to Tiny van der Plas. It is a form of origami in which identical squares of patterned paper (cut from the front of tea bag wrappers) are folded, and then arranged in rosettes. These rosettes are usually used to decorate gift cards, and it has become a popular craft in both the US and UK since 2000.{{cite web |last=Britton |first=Jill |url=http://britton.disted.camosun.bc.ca/jbteabagtiles.htm |title=Tea bag folding |date=2009-06-29 |access-date=2009-07-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090803041124/http://britton.disted.camosun.bc.ca/jbteabagtiles.htm |archive-date=2009-08-03 }}

Soil scientists have used standardized tea bags to measure the decomposition rate of organic materials in different soils.{{cite journal |last1=Keuskamp |first1=Joost A. |title=Tea Bag Index: a novel approach to collect uniform decomposition data across ecosystems |journal=Methods in Ecology and Evolution |volume=4 |issue=11 |pages=1070–1075 |date=July 2013 |doi=10.1111/2041-210X.12097 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2013MEcEv...4.1070K }}{{cite news |last1=Ogden |first1=Lesley Evans |title=How teabags became a secret weapon in the fight against climate change |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24232330-400-how-teabags-became-a-secret-weapon-in-the-fight-against-climate-change/ |access-date=2025-04-02 |work=New Scientist |date=5 June 2019 |url-access=subscription}}