More companies have begun to package their tea in tea bags made from plastic -- either nylon or polyethylene terephthalate (PET). A recent study at McGill University found that a single one of these tea bags releases more than 11 billion microplastic and 3 billion nanoplastic particles when steeped in boiling water.

Even tea packaged in what appears to be a paper tea bag may contain a plastic called epichlorohydrin that's used to help keep the bags from breaking which is also problematic.

People who drink tea could be repeatedly dosing themselves with billions of plastic particles, some small enough to potentially infiltrate our cells. Tell tea companies that plastic is NOT your cup of tea and ask them to switch to completely plastic-free packaging.