Lead and pesticide residues detected in tea leaves and teabags -
CHOICE # 387 (January 15, 2009)
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Traces of lead and pesticide residues were detected in samples
of Chinese tea leaves and teabags in a recent test.
The Consumer Council test focused on Oolong and Tikuanyin (Iron
Buddha) favoured by probably most Chinese tea aficionados.
The 46 samples - 32 tea leaves and 14 teabags - were sourced
from different outlets of supermarkets, tea houses and
restaurants.
With the exception of one tea leave sample, the lead content of
the samples was found to be within the limit of 5mg/1000g
stipulated in the Chinese National Standard GB2762-2005.
The one exception was an Oolong sample detected with lead
reaching a quantity of 9.3mg/1000g. The sample was sourced from a
seafood restaurant.
On pesticide residue content, all but one teabag sample were
found to be within the limit (for DDT in tea leaves) of 0.2mg/1000g
set out in the GB2763-2005 standard.
The Tikuanyin teabag was found to contain 0.342mg/1000g of DDT
pesticide residue. DDT has been found to cause cancer in laboratory
animals, but not in humans and it is classified by the
International Agency for Research on Cancer as possibly
carcinogenic to humans.
The Centre for Food Safety had taken samples of Chinese teas,
which were found containing lead and pesticide residues at levels
requiring follow-up action, for testing of lead and pesticide
residues and the analysis results were satisfactory.
Habitual Chinese tea drinkers, however, need not worry unduly as
drinking the brewed tea is safe from contamination of heavy metals
and pesticides.
In the test, teas of 3 samples containing the most lead were
brewed for 30 minutes and the result showed that the maximum level
of lead detected in the brewed tea was 19 microgram per litre.
Assuming that other food and drink you consume contain no lead,
you will need to drink as much as 13 litres of the tea in question
to breach the safety boundary - based on the Provisional Tolerable
Weekly Intake assigned by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on
Food Additives.
A person usually drinks 8 glasses of beverage a day totalling 2
litres, therefore, normal consumption of tea is unlikely to reach
near the 13 litres daily threshold.
Likewise, teas of 3 samples containing the most pesticides were
brewed for 30 minutes, and the amount of pesticides found in the
brewed tea was minimal - with most pesticide residues below the
detection limit of the test.
Consumers should maintain a balanced diet so as to avoid
excessive intake of contaminants from a small range of food items.
To further reduce the risk, consumers are advised to refer to the
test report in this January issue of CHOICE, to select tea with low
level of contaminants.
And avoid swallowing tea leaves in drink or food prepared with
tea leaves as an ingredient (for the flavour).
Otherwise, set your heart at ease and enjoy Chinese tea.
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