Tea Lovers Rejoice: Your Brew Could Help Purify Water, Says New Study
Posted on June 06 2025
A recent study from Northwestern University has unveiled a surprising benefit of brewing tea: it can help remove toxic heavy metals like lead and cadmium from drinking water. Published in ACS Food Science & Technology on February 24, 2025, the research indicates that tea leaves naturally adsorb heavy metal ions during the brewing process, effectively trapping them and reducing their presence in the beverage.
Key Findings
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Effective Removal of Heavy Metals: Brewing a typical cup of tea—using one tea bag in a mug of water steeped for three to five minutes—can remove approximately 15% of lead from water with concentrations up to 10 parts per million.
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Variety of Teas Tested: The study examined various types of tea, including black, green, oolong, white, chamomile, and rooibos. Black tea, especially when finely ground, demonstrated the highest efficacy in adsorbing heavy metals.
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Influence of Tea Bags: Cellulose (paper) tea bags were found to significantly aid in the adsorption of contaminants, whereas cotton and nylon bags absorbed only trivial amounts.
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Steeping Time Matters: Longer steeping times enhanced the removal of heavy metals, suggesting that extended brewing could be more beneficial in reducing contaminants.
Implications
While the researchers do not recommend replacing conventional water filtration systems with tea brewing, this discovery highlights an unrecognized potential for tea consumption to passively contribute to reduced heavy metal exposure. Given that over 5 billion cups of tea are consumed daily worldwide, this could have meaningful public health implications, especially in areas where water contamination is a concern.
For more detailed information, you can read the full study on Northwestern Engineering's website: Brewing Tea Removes Lead from Water.
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