Urgent warning that drinking TEA could be releasing microplastics into the body

A SOOTHING cup of tea might not be doing wonders for your health, scientists warn.

Sipping on your staple brew could release billions of microplastics into your body, research from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona suggests.

The culprit? Teabags.

According to the researchers, the tea leaf-filled pouches are steeped in microplastics, which are released into our bodies as we drink.

How these tiny fragments of plastic may affect our health is not yet clear.

But previous research has identified them in penile tissue and human breast milk.

Other studies have shown that food packaging - such as plastic bottles, cups and Tupperware - is a major source of microplastics.

"The potential health implications of environmental micro/nanoplastics (MNPLs) are increasingly concerning," the Spanish researchers said.

"Beyond environmental exposure, other sources such as food packaging, including herbal teabags, may also be significant."

The team tested three popular teabags - easily purchased online or in supermarkets - to try and gage how many microplastics we may be ingesting from each after brewing a cup in the "standard" way.

The study - published in the journal - found that most of these microplastics are sucked up by mucus-producing intestinal cells.

But researchers found that some can even enter the cell nucleus, which is the part of the cell that houses genetic material, reported.