Study finds microplastics in all tested beverages, with hot drinks posing highest risk

Researchers at the University of Birmingham set out to answer a question that had been largely overlooked: what happens when people drink something other than water? The answer, delivered in a comprehensive analysis of 31 different beverages, is unsettling. Microplastics turned up in every single sample tested—coffee, tea, juice, soda, energy drinks, the full range of what people actually consume throughout their day. The finding itself was alarming enough. But the researchers discovered something more specific and more troubling: the hot drinks posed the greatest risk.

Lead researcher Mohamed Abdallah explained the gap that prompted the work. Most microplastics research had focused narrowly on drinking water—tap water, bottled water—leaving a blind spot around the other liquids that make up people's daily intake. "We realized that people don't only drink water during their day," Abdallah told The Independent. "You drink tea, coffee and juices." When the team looked at those beverages, they found what Abdallah called "a ubiquitous presence of microplastics" across both cold and hot drinks. The results suggested that water alone was not the problem; the problem was far more comprehensive.

Heat emerged as the critical variable. When hot water brews tea or coffee, it causes plastic packaging materials to shed particles at significantly higher rates than cold beverages do. Polypropylene, a common plastic in food and beverage containers, was among the most frequently identified polymers in the tested drinks. The finding carried particular weight for premium tea drinkers. Those pyramid-shaped tea bags marketed as luxurious, often made from synthetic nylon, release billions of microscopic plastic particles when subjected to boiling water—a single bag can contaminate an entire cup. What consumers chose thinking it a health-conscious option became, in effect, a substantial source of plastic ingestion.

The scale of exposure is enormous. Millions of cups of tea and coffee are consumed every morning across the world, each one potentially delivering microplastics directly into the body. Abdallah called for urgent legislative action, both from governments and international organizations, to limit human exposure. "They're everywhere," he said of microplastics, emphasizing the pervasiveness of the problem.

The health implications are still being understood, but early evidence is concerning. Recent studies have linked microplastics in the body to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Research from the University of Birmingham itself has found that chemical additives within these microplastics can enter the human body not only through ingestion but even through sweat. These particles, measuring a millionth of a gram, have become ubiquitous in the food supply—present in bottled water, meat, plant-based foods, anything that has contact with plastic packaging or everyday plastic products.

For consumers, the path forward is becoming clearer, if less convenient. Loose-leaf tea brewed in a metal or ceramic infuser offers an alternative to the plastic-laden sachets that line grocery store shelves. The choice represents a small but deliberate step away from the hidden costs of convenience that modern packaging has normalized. As the science reveals what has been accumulating in human bodies, the question is no longer whether microplastics are present in what we drink—they are. The question now is what people will do about it.