For many Americans, grabbing a latte or a hot tea from a coffee shop is as habitual as brushing their teeth. You know the routine: Leave the house at 8:00 a.m., pick up your Starbucks drink at 8:15, and get to work by 8:30.
Coffee and tea help us get through the Monday–Friday grind.
But according to recent research, when we drink hot coffee or tea from disposable paper cups, we’re ingesting thousands of health-damaging microplastics.
Though one might not think a paper cup would contain plastic, almost all paper dishware utilizes microplastics as a sealant.
Two separate studies showed that when hot liquid is poured into paper cups, microplastics leach from the coating into the hot liquid, thereby turning a cup of coffee or tea into a microplastic elixir….