The study states that tea leaves can tear down lead

Tea leaves pull out massive metals from the water, significantly lowering the amount of lead and other threatening compounds that people may unconsciously drank, showed a modern study.

Recent research He emphasized potential applications for used tea leaves, from Biofuels Down Gluten -free cookies. But a modern study shows the benefits of public health from something that countless people are already doing. According to about five billion cups of tea are consumed all over the world one respect.

“You can see implications,” said Vinayak Dravid, a scientist from materials in Northwestern and author of the study, which was published this week. “How often do we touch billions of people?”

In many countries, water used for steep tea is contaminated with lead from aging pipes. In the United States, nine million houses pass water through pipes containing lead, in accordance with Environmental Protection Agency. Lead is particularly threatening for children. The exhibition can lead to Development delays AND behavioral problems.

Dr. Dravid and his team checked how different types of tea – black, white, olong, green, rooibos, herbal, loose leaf and ordinary venerable lipton – behaved in water with different amounts of lead.

Tea was then allowed to be steep for variable periods of time. Then the scientists measured how much lead remained in the water.

Michelle Francl, a chemist from Bryn Mawr College and the author of catechins in tea leaves act like “petite Velcro” hooks that grab lead particles Book about tea chemistry. Dr. Francl also said that “ridges and valleys” of tea leaves provided the necessary surface for this interaction.

While these properties have been known for some time, Dr. Dravid and his colleagues were the first to look at the delaric powers of the lead of one cup of tea. They discovered that black tea leaves were wrinkled after baking, and therefore the absorption of massive metals would be best.

“Green tea and black tea had quite equivalent amounts of metal,” said another author, Benjamin Shindel, who was a PhD student at Northwestern while working on the study.

On the other hand, white tea undergoes much more fragile preparation. Its leaves remain polished, offering a smaller surface from which you can draw massive metals from the water. Herbal tea enthusiasts can be disappointed when he learns that chamomile tea also does a indigent work of massive filtering, probably because it is made of chamomile flowers, not tea leaves.

Despite this, these distinctions between different types of tea were not the most essential factor. “It’s much more essential how long you brew tea,” said Dr. Shindel.

Scientists have found that the immersion of a cup of black tea for five minutes can remove 15 percent lead from water, which is helpful, but “there is no secure level” of lead exposure, according to EPA

“In the case of lead and other pollutants, each decrease has a significant significant, especially if there is a lack of resources or infrastructure that would already fix some of these problems,” said Caroline Harms, who was a student of Dr. Dravida in Northwestern during work.

The longer the time, the more bitter tea. Last year Dr. Francl caused a small international scandal Suggesting that adding salt to tea can alleviate its bitterness. But even this controversial hack chemistry has its limits. “After 10 minutes, tea soothed is not to drink and no amount of salt will support,” she said.

Some samples in the study had to be steeped for 24 hours, which would make tea insurmountable.

The authors of the study found that they are less motivated to create recipes for public health for decision -makers than to study the hidden benefit of a global habit.

Scientists have estimated that the country where people drank enormous amounts of tea would have about 3 percent less of lead consumption of water supply than (hypothetical) an identical country that does not drink tea.

“How wonderful,” said Henrietta Lovell, founder of Infrequent Tea Company. Mrs. Lovell, who provides tea to exclusive restaurants, indicated that tea was used in China for medicinal purposes for thousands of years. “The more I learn for tea, the more fantastic and fascinating it becomes,” said Mrs. Lovell.

Dr. Francl believes that modern discoveries can ultimately pave the way for a scalable method to make sure that people do not consume massive metals. “Considering that immaculate water is such a global problem,” she said, “If there was a way to accept this proof of the concept and adapt it to the production of drinking water at the end, it would be quite good.”