14 DAY TRIAL // This past August 11, environmental group Greenpeace announced to the world that, according to its investigations, enjoying one or two cups of tea on a daily basis might actually do more harm than good.
Thus, the organization maintains that, while looking at the makeup of 49 branded and packaged teas originating from India, it found traces of potentially harmful pesticides in each and every one of them.
On its website, Greenpeace details that some of the brands it found to contain trace amounts of pesticides were leading international and national ones such as Tetley, Lipton, and Twinings.
The group maintains that, all in all, residues of as many as 34 different pesticides were found in the 49 branded and packaged teas this investigation focused one. Of these, 23 aren't even listed as being used to grow tea in India.
Information shared with the public says that, of the samples collected and analyzed by Greenpeace, over 50% were found to contain traces of at least 10 different pesticides. Even more puzzling, one sample was tainted by residues of 20 different pesticides.
Of the tea samples analyzed, nearly 60% were found to contain at least one pesticide in concentrations that exceeded the Maximum Residue Levels agreed upon by member states of the European Union. 40% of the samples exceeded pesticide concentration limits imposed by the Union by over 50%.
In its report, dubbed “Trouble Brewing,” the environmental group explains that, of the pesticides found in these tea samples, one in particular, i.e. monocrotophos, is known to be deadly to humans if and when ingested in considerable amounts.
Thus, this compound is said to be responsible for the death of as many as 23 children in India, who all became exposed to it due to misuse of pesticide containers. One other compound, i.e. imidacloprid, is known to affect bees and hinder the development of animals.
In its report, Greenpeace argues that, since India is, for the time being at least, the world's fourth largest tea exporter, it might not be such a bad idea if efforts were to be made to encourage it to shake off the use of pesticides known to be a threat to public health.
“India is the second largest producer and the forth largest exporter of tea globally, with the marketing and sales of tea forming a multi-billion dollar market (estimated at $40.7 billion / €30.38 billion) both domestically and globally,” the environmental group writes.
“The results indicate that the cultivation of tea in India continues to depend on a large number of chemicals with proven adverse effects on the environment and human health. Companies purchasing and selling tea in India and other key stakeholders in the industry need to act urgently to ensure the protection of the environment and of human health,” it adds.