The Guardian (27th September 2019)

Milk? Sugar? Microplastics? Some tea bags found to shed billions of particles

Syllabus Links

Demand (Edexcel 1.2.2, AQA 4.1.3.1, OCR 1.2.2)

Potential questions

Using a suitable diagram, show the impact of this story on the demand for plastic tea bag products

Assess the potential impact of this news story on the demand for tea

Some ideas to consider:

Microplastics are even threatening our beloved cuppa! As Brits, we drink more tea than most, although our habit of adding milk to it is often misunderstood in other parts of the world. Could our humble cuppa, the inspiration that has driven this nation forward for centuries, be under threat by this new revelation of a high microplastic count in each tea bag?

This news may come as a blow to the designers of plastic tea bags? Once the plastic tea bag is added to boiling water, they can release as many as 11.6bn microplastic particles. These microplastics will then be ingested directly by us in our tea. Will this impact upon the demand for plastic tea bags, and will it have an impact on the environment?

As most of my readers will currently be considering issues related to demand and supply, I will focus on the impact in this area. Demand considers the quantity of goods and services that consumers are willing and able to buy at a given price over a given period of time. There are a number of factors that influence levels of demand, including the price of the product, population size, changes in income levels and changes in fashion.

Our article considers another issue, the negative news reports about a product. Given the increasing awareness of damage to the environment, and a move towards environmentally friendly products, this article could have a potentially damaging impact upon the demand for plastic tea bagged products. The demand curve would shift to the left, from D1 to D2, as consumers switch their purchasing patterns back to traditional tea bags (which also contain plastic).

This should lead to a price reduction from P1 to P2, sending a signal to producers to reduce production of such items. The lower price also reduces profitability, reducing the incentive to continue producing.

The impact of this may be fewer microparticles of plastic released into the environment, which could contribute to overcoming the plastic pollution that currently litters not only the sea, but land, the air and pretty much everything else.

The investment that has gone into producing plastic tea bags by the companies that use them, may need to be reconsidered. This could imply an additional cost as new ways of producing tea bags would be needed. This may however, provide a boost to those companies that sell biodegradable tea bags, or specifically advertise their products as plastic free. This could potentially boost demand for products like Pukka and Tea Pig.

The availability of close substitutes, for most people one cup of tea is not dissimilar to another, may mean demand simply shifts to other tea companies. If those tea companies have “plastic free” emblazoned across their products, perhaps this will boost their demand. However, such “luxury” tea products do tend to have higher prices, and with a price conscious clientele, are we going to put family shopping budgets before the environment?

We do need to question some aspects of this article. The tests were only carried out on four types of tea bags In Montreal. This is not a very wide-ranging sample of the vast array of products that currently fit into this category. Would a research project covering only four items be considered as sufficiently accurate to be generating front page news stories around the world?

We do not know the impact of microplastics on humans. They may be harmless, but general convention suggests that more study is needed in order to make a scientific assessment of the potential damage of microplastics on human beings. The potential behaviour changing impact upon fleas is a cause for concern, but any flea subjected to being bombarded by 5mm pieces of microplastic is likely to feel threatened given it possibly equates to their entire body size. If we were being bombarded by 80kg chunks of rock, perhaps it would impact upon our behaviour too.

Should this study be given the headlines it has been given? Should we change our tea consumption habits based on it? These are issues that we can think about. We could then consider what actions the government could take to overcome them, if action is deemed necessary. So next time you enjoy a cuppa, consider these ideas. And with that in mind, time to put the kettle on.

Check out the YouTube video here.

Additional activities

“The time is right for the government to impose strict regulations on tea companies to ensure their products are not damaging the environment”. Discuss

“We should not worry about microplastics until there is solid evidence of the damage they can cause the human organism!” Critically evaluate this statement

Additional information

Which tea bags contain plastic?

The Sun (27th September 2019)

What are microplastics?

National ocean Service website (date accessed 28th September 2019)