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If your daily routine is to turn on the sink to fill the kettle and then heat that water to make tea, here’s some news that might surprise you: in a new study that looked at mainstream tea brands like Lipton and Twinings , scientists identified a chemical interaction when these teas encountered typical tap water.
A group of biochemistry and environmental science researchers in the United States and China published a study in the peer-reviewed journal, Environmental science and technology. Scientists have teamed up to find that when boiled tap water is used to brew tea, the small amount of chlorine added to the water system to clean it can react with the compounds in the tea to produce an effect called ” exposure to disinfection by-products “.
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The Washington State Department of Health offers an insightful explanation of what disinfection byproducts are:
“Water systems add chlorine to drinking water to kill or inactivate pests in a process called“ disinfection. ”During this process, chlorine also reacts with naturally occurring organic matter that can be present in drinking water Chlorine disinfection byproducts (DBPs) can be formed during this chemical reaction.
The scientists who conducted this study recognized the possibility that since most teas contain remarkable chemicals (many of which are beneficial to health), chlorine could also play a role in your cup of tea.
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They researched this effect by testing tap water on Twinings green tea, Lipton tea, and an unnamed brand of Earl Gray tea. As a result, they report: “In many cases, measured [disinfection byproduct] the levels in the tea were lower than those in the tap water itself. “
To be more specific, adding standard chlorinated tap water resulted in a 12% reduction in disinfection byproducts in these tea samples. Byproducts that emerged included dichloroacetic acid, which is a chemical in some drugs, and chloroform, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says can lead to liver and kidney problems if it is. consumed in large quantities.
It might sound serious, but, to be clear, it doesn’t strongly suggest that you should totally throw out that tap water soaked tea. In fact, the researchers say more research should be done to better understand the interaction between tea and tap water.
Yet, especially considering that some drinks can interact with the medications we take, the purity of your water in a drink that you enjoy every day may be something to keep in mind.
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