Do Bleached Teabags Represent a Health Risk?

There has been significant public health concerns about the bleaching of tea in teabags. The fact is that during chlorine-bleaching some toxic substances, like dioxin, may be created. So, let’s find out if small amount of dioxin in chlorine-bleached teabags may actually be dangerous.

What are Teabags Made From?

First teabags were made from silk and muslin. Nowadays, teabags are mostly made from paper, produced from a blend of wood and vegetable (hemp) fibers. Both wood and vegetable pulp are usually chlorine-bleached, meaning that small amount of toxic chlorine compounds may end up in teabag paper.

To avoid chlorine toxicity, today some tea sellers use only teabags from non-chlorine (oxygen) bleached teabag paper, completely non-bleached paper, or teabags from synthetic fibers (1).

Paper Production and Bleaching

Wood consists of about 50% cellulose fibers, 30% lignin fibers, and 20% of other easily extracted substances (2). Lignin gives wood its strength and color. In order to get white paper (almost 100% cellulose), lignin and other substances have to be removed. Pulp cooking removes the most lignin from the pulp, and remaining lignin can be removed by bleaching.

Chlorine Bleaching

The aim of using chlorine is to remove lignin from pulp (delignification), and thus bleach it.

Chlorine

Up until the late 1990s, elementary chlorine (Cl2) was used for pulp bleaching (3). Chlorine pulls lignin out from the pulp. Some chlorine binds to lignin, resulting in toxic organochlorine byproducts like chloroform, dioxin, furans etc.

Chlorine Dioxide – Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) Bleaching

Nowadays chlorine dioxide (ClO2) is used in pulp bleaching instead of elementary chlorine. Chlorine dioxide does not bind to lignin but breaks it down, resulting in by far the less amount of dioxins in wood pulp (3). However, paper bleached with chlorine dioxide is still not completely chlorine free as some paper manufacturers may claim (3).

Extended delignification with ozone, oxygen or other non-chlorine whiteners, can furtherly reduce the amount of dioxins in the pulp (3).

Non-Chlorine Bleaching

Processed Chlorine Free (PCF) Bleaching

Processed Chlorine Free bleaching uses totally chlorine free processing, but includes recycled paper, which must be assumed as previously chlorine-bleached. Both the recycled fiber and any virgin fiber must be bleached without chlorine compounds (3). Before the fibers are made into new paper, they are thoroughly washed many times, so it is unlikely that chlorine will still be attached to the fibers after PCF bleaching. But minute amount of dioxins may still be expected to be found in the pulp.

Totally Chlorine Free (TCF) Bleaching

Totally Chlorine Free bleaching uses no chlorine compounds in bleaching procedure and only virgin wood pulp is used. Bleaching chemicals used – peracetic acid (CH3COOOH), oxygen (O2), ozone (O3) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) – produce no chlorine byproducts (3).

Dioxin

The chemical name for dioxin is 2,3,7,8- tetrachlorodibenzo para dioxin (TCDD). The name ‘dioxins’ is often used for the family of chemically related polychlorinated dibenzo para dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). TCDD is the most toxic dioxin (4,11).

Common Sources of Dioxin

A human, in average, ingests most of dioxin with meat, dairy products, fish, shellfish and eggs (4,11).

Dioxin in Teabags

2,3,7,8-TCDD has been found in teabags at concentrations up to 4.79 ppt (6, page 83)

Bleached containers and filters can leach dioxins into milk, coffee, and other foods with which they come in contact (7).

Health Risk of Dioxin Exposure

Once dioxins have entered the body, they are absorbed by fat tissue. Their half-life in the body is estimated to be seven to eleven years (4). The study performed on Princeton University, USA, in y. 2003, has shown that there is no safe dose below which dioxin will not cause cancer (5).

After ingestion, dioxins accumulate in fatty tissues and disrupt the hormone system. EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) scientists warned in 1994 that minute exposures to organochlorines can lead to cancer, loss of reproductive capabilities, endometriosis, developmental and behavioral disorders, learning disabilities, birth defects, and damaged immune systems (4). Fetus may absorb dioxins across the placenta and infant through their mother’s milk (8). However, TCDD does not affect DNA (4).

Who Is Sensitive to Dioxin?

Ask a Doctor Online Now!

All people may be harmed by small amounts of dioxin, but at most risks are:

• Developing fetus
• Newborn with rapidly developing organ systems

Chlorine Free Products Association

The Chlorine Free Products Association certifies papers that meet their criteria for chlorine free. It awards its PCF symbol(Processed Chlorine Free) to papers that contain a minimum of 30% recycled fibers, have not been chlorine-rebleached, and use TCF (Totally Chlorine Free) virgin pulp that did not come from old growth forests. Its TCF symbol (Totally Chlorine Free) is awarded to virgin papers meeting the same criteria (3). PCF and TCF symbols may be found on some paper products including tea bags.

Customer Awareness

Because of increased customers awareness, many tea selling companies now use oxygen-bleached teabags instead of chlorine-bleached ones.

It is hard to say from the look of the teabag, is it bleached or not. If in doubt, and if you find this as an important issue, call the tea seller company and ask. They are usually willing to answer all questions.

PAPER TEA BAGS CONTAIN PESTICIDES, TOXINS, DIOXIN…

Yes this sounds crazy! Imagine you could be drinking pesticides in your favorite drink… But this is true. Paper tea bags often contain Epichlorohydrin, a compound used as a pesticide. Epichlorhydrine becomes active when it is in contact with hot water. This pesticide is known to cause infertility and can harm your immune system. This pesticide also causes cancer in animals. So….why are we drinking tea made in little pesticide bags? Maybe you should check your tea bags before putting it in your mugs. Our advice is to wash it with a warm hot water before steeping.

PLASTIC TEA BAGS CAN LEAK TOXINS

Farmer spraying pesticide on tea leaves

Putting plastic tea bags in hot enough water will begin to break down. When this happens, toxins are released into the tea. Though one cup of bagged tea won’t do any harm, consistently drinking this could cause health issues. The more you drink tea in plastic tea bags, the more chemicals you put in your body – especially if you steep several times the same tea bag. Chemicals in plastic containers and bottles have been found to leach into food and drink. This is why in nursery industry for exemple, baby bottles using plastics included bisphenol-A (BPA), bisphenol-S (BPS), and phthalates have been forbidden in many countries, thereby posing a number of health hazards such as acting as potent endocrine disruptors.

SOME TEA BAGS ARE CHLORINE-BLEACHED

Some of the bags used to contain tea are made with paper. But what you may not know is that the paper has been chlorine-bleached. Yes, unless you buy your tea from an environmentally brand, most of the tea you consume is wrapped in white bags. White stands for “clean“. This means that these tea bags are the result of intensive chemical processes. Would you like to continue drinking tea in a chlorine-bleached bag? Just for your information, drinking tea in a chlorine-bleached bag once won’t really do anything. But do it consistently could represent a health risk.

Dairy free, egg free, gluten free, and no refined sugar added, nutritionally dense green tea ice cream will make everyone scream for ice cream!

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

• 1 C + 3 Tbsp of 100% Coconut Cream
• 1 Tsp Culinary Grade Organic Matcha
• ¼ C Raw Honey (mild flavor like Clover) - or adjust the amount to your liking
• Pinch of himalayan sea salt

Ingredients for Green Tea Ice Cream

The ice cream industry is very popular. In fact, Food Network has a contest to discover the newest ice cream flavor. In addition, on the Food Network website, there are ingredients and recipes in order to make green ice cream for summertime parties. Below are the ingredients for a version of green tea ice cream was part of an episode called Far East Sweets.

• Heavy cream
• Half and half
• Vanilla beans
• Egg yolks
• Sugar
• Green tea powder/ Matcha or green tea

You may have seen that many people take black tea after their breakfast or during other times of the day. However, you should also know that the consumption of white tea is prevalent in Japan and China for several centuries due to its unique flavor and aroma. Nowadays, health conscious people have started gathering sufficient knowledge about this tea after a group of researchers claimed that it might act as an aide for reducing chances of certain forms of cancer. Therefore, there is a rise in purchase of Black Momma White Tea online.

Black tea and green tea are cultivated and harvested in many parts of the world. However, Fukien province in China holds the top position for the production of white organic tea. This tea is produced from the plant called Camelia Sinensis. Other tea blends are produced from the same plant.

Characteristics of White Organic Tea

How to identify white tea? If you do not possess the right knowledge and expertise of identifying tea leaves, then you may land up with the wrong choice. In comparison to other teas, white organic tea features a high number of buds than its leaves. The buds of the tea plant boast tiny hairs that have silver hue. That is why the plant has a whitish appearance.

Another characteristic of white organic tea is that its leaves do not have to undergo elaborate steps of processing. Care is taken in such a way that the leaves are not subjected to rigorous oxidation. Buds of this tea are plucked when they remain unopened. These buds are subjected to steaming process and then they undergo heat-dry treatment. This treatment keeps the leaves fresh.

Constituents of White Organic Tea

As the white organic tea does not require elaborate processing, some researchers believe that this tea contains polyphenols in a substantial quantity that may help in fighting cancer.

What Researchers Found?

Most of the polyphenols get oxidized when green tea is processed into black or oolong tea. Some researchers conducted an experiment for proving that white tea contains a substantial amount of polyphenols that may help to fight against cancer.

While conducting the experiment, four variants of brewed white tea underwent laboratory test. Researchers termed the test as Salmonella assay. The purpose of the test was to ascertain whether a mutation in DNA could be prevented by chemical or not. The outcome of the experiment was that each variant of white tea prohibited mutations in DNA efficiently. It proved that the white tea could reduce possibilities of cancer.

White Tea and Green Tea Contain Same Kind of Polyphenols

The examination also found that white tea is rich in polyphenols that are also present in green tea. However, the amount of these compounds varies as per the tea type. If a number of polyphenols contained in one variant is more than the other variant, it shows that the one with the highest level has enough potential of fighting against cancer.

The researchers conducted another experiment to determine the effectiveness of white tea in fighting cancer. They conducted the experiment on a few rats. Those rats had significant possibilities of developing symptoms of colon cancer.

Initially, the researchers divided the rats into two groups. Both groups were fed with substances containing mutagens. These compounds raise the possibilities of developing symptoms of cancer. One group was fed with water. The other group was fed with white tea. The tea underwent steeping for around five minutes. Rats consuming white tea developed a lesser number of precancerous tumors than those fed with water.

White Tea might be Effective against Lung Cancer

White tea may check the growth of lung cancer. Some researchers from Scripps Green Hospital in California, University of California and University of New Mexico conducted an experiment where they treated two kinds of cells displaying symptoms of lung cancer, with white tea. The application of white tea on both cells caused changes in the cell linings. That led to the death of cells. The study showed that 15-LOX and PPAR-gamma signaling pathways became active that led to apoptosis. The researchers also subjected the affected cells to green tea extract. They found that white tea effectively increased the number of RNA transcripts than green tea. The rise in the level of RNA transcripts caused cell death.

You have seen how white tea might check the growth of cancer cells. Consume this tea regularly to stay fit. Buy white tea online now at www.Blackmommateas.com