Borosilicate glass tea cup on a fabric coaster with fresh leaves

The Sad News About Your Favorite Teacup and Why You Need to Take Caution

By Erika Robertson

Tea is posh. Tea is casual. Tea is a part of everyday life and special occasions. It is always a good time for you to have tea. When you sip a cup of fresh tea you invite all your senses to mingle and relax. 

Tea makes the world go round. Aside from water, tea is the most popular drink on the planet. A cup of tea is healthy. A mug of tea is affordable. And afternoon tea is delectable. — But, tea can be dangerous. 

Here’s the bad news: It’s likely that the adorable tea mug is poisoning you with a daily dose of toxic chemicals.

Here’s the good news: You can take your tea routine to the next level by switching out that porcelain mug for a better option that helps your health and sustains the planet.

Are Your Cute Tea Cups and Coffee Mugs Toxic?

You, like most tea drinkers, sip your favorite teas from porcelain or metal cups and mugs. Your mornings, afternoons, and evenings are full of tea. 

Your tea ritual starts by picking out your “tea cup of the day”. You get to choose from your favorite flower-painted and cat-adorned ceramicware. 

Tea is your daily retreat from life or it’s the boost to keep you moving. But this ritual is one that might have a steep cost on your health.

Most teaware and tea cups have a long and rocky history with their manufacturer’s chemicals and toxins. Ceramic cups are made using porous materials. These materials are painted with glaze to help keep moisture out. 

Ceramic materials aren’t an issue but the painted glaze may be toxic.

Hand reaching out to floral print tea cup on saucer

The Negative Effects of Toxic Stoneware Mugs and Cups

Most coffee mugs and tea cups have cadmium, lead, and other materials. Drinking from lead-glazed cups is an enormous public health problem. The FDA states that the glaze used in making ceramic ware can contain cadmium and lead.1

Ceramicware includes porcelain and metallic tea cups and mugs. Metallic teaware has high levels of nickel, lead, and other toxic chemicals.2 Long-term lead exposure can cause weakness, brain damage, anemia, kidney failure, and in some cases death.3 Prolonged exposure to Cadmium has terrible effects including cancer and organ system toxicity.4

Lead-free or Lead-safe? And What is Leaching?

A majority of teaware companies say that they produce lead-free tea cups and teapots. But, did you know that a lot of these companies don’t know what chemicals are used in the glaze of their porcelain tea cups?

Sometimes these companies refuse to comment on the chemical breakdowns of their glazes. Manufacturers might even use unapproved glazes that weren’t tested by the teaware companies. Sometimes, there are big trust issues when it comes to creating quality teaware.

Learning the differences between lead-free tea cups and lead-safe tea cups is important. And it’s good for you to know how leaching affects your tea:

Lead-Free Teacups and Mugs

Lead-free tea cups and mugs don’t have any traces of lead. Trust is a big concern between teaware companies and manufacturers. There’s never a solid guarantee that your glazed porcelain tea cup is lead-free. 

Are you concerned that lead is in the glaze or paint of your favorite tea cup? You can buy a lead-testing kit online and test it at home.  

Lead-Safe Teacups and Mugs

Lead-safe tea cups and mugs have very small traces of lead paint. The lead in the paint doesn’t exceed two or three parts per million.5 

These decorative paint designs are usually found outside of your tea cup. The paint doesn’t come into direct contact with your tea. This means lead doesn’t leach into your beverage.

What is Leaching?

Leaching happens when lead paint chips off of your tea cup or seeps into your tea. Heavy leaching may occur when hot or acidic teas come into contact with the porcelain glaze. 

Lead-free tea cups will not leach chemicals into your tea. Lead-safe tea cups generally don’t carry the risk of leaching toxic chemicals into your tea.

What is the Most Non-Toxic Material?

Research and study show that the safest and purest material for tea cups and mugs is a special kind of glass. Borosilicate glass tea cups and mugs are the best material for your teaware. 

Borosilicate glass tea cups don’t leach toxins and chemicals into your tea. Borosilicate glass has a great reputation for quality and long-lasting safety. Its benefits eclipse the negative health impacts of metallic and porcelain tea cups.

Purple flower tea cup and saucer with gold spoon

9 Incredible Benefits of Borosilicate Glass Teaware

Professional tea enthusiasts are putting granny’s tea set on permanent decorative display, or packing it away. Borosilicate glass is taking over the tea industry in the best way possible as the better alternative to traditional teaware. This revolutionary glassware is the toxic-free, pure, and healthy future of the tea industry. 

Here are nine solid reasons why borosilicate glass tea cups and teaware are the best:

  1. Borosilicate Glass Mugs are Strong

Borosilicate glass is made with more silicon dioxide than other kinds of glass. This means your large borosilicate glass tea cup or mug is strong and much less likely to break or crack.

  1. Borosilicate Glass has Temperature Superiority

Borosilicate glass handles extreme temperature changes with ease. This means you can brew your hot tea without worrying about shattering or cracking the glass.

  1. Borosilicate Glass Teaware is Corrosion Resistant

Borosilicate glass tea cups and teaware have outstanding resistance to water corrosion. Its resistance surpasses most metals and materials. This means you don’t have to deep-clean your borosilicate glassware.

  1. Borosilicate Glass is Chemical Resistant

Borosilicate glass is super chemical resistant. It’s even used to store nuclear waste! This means your new tea mug will make your tea taste great. And it won’t leach poisonous chemicals into your tea.

  1. Borosilicate Glass Tea Cups are Super Easy to Clean

Borosilicate glass is anti-stick, non-porous, and a dream to clean. The smooth surface doesn’t need a lot of scrubbing and it’s resistant to staining. This means you can say goodbye to tea stains and hello to sparkling and clean tea cups.

  1. Borosilicate Glass Teaware is Long-Lasting

Borosilicate glass tea cups and pots are healthy, durable, and stable. With proper care, your borosilicate tea set can last a lifetime. This means you don’t have to worry about cracking glaze leaching into your tea after a few years. 

  1. Borosilicate Glass Tea Sets are Affordable

Borosilicate glass tea cups aren’t adorned with fancy paint and lead-infused glazes. Handcrafted porcelain tea cups can be expensive. But glassware is easy to make and takes less time to create than traditional teaware. This means you will spend less money on a quality tea set that is better for you.

  1. Borosilicate Glass is Friendly for the Environment

Borosilicate glass tea cups and mugs are made with natural materials. They have a smaller impact on the environment. Scrubbing your stoneware tea cups can leach toxins into the water. Borosilicate glass cups and mugs are free from toxins. This means there is no chance of lead and cadmium leaching into the environment.6

  1. Borosilicate Glass Cups Make Tea Taste Incredible

Borosilicate glass tea cups are free from toxins, lead paint, and other leachable materials. Your borosilicate glass cup won’t leach chemical flavors into your tea. This means you can relax and taste the real flavors of your tea. And you can experience the health benefits of your tea in its purest and cleanest form. 

Where to Buy the Best Borosilicate Glass Mugs and Cups

Borosilicate glass is the healthiest and purest way to enjoy tea in its most natural form. Glass tea cups and blooming teas are a fun way to introduce new tea drinkers to the fascinating world of tea. But borosilicate teaware is more than pretty: it also promotes wellness, health, environmentalism, and a toxic-free way to consume tea. 

Teabloom is on a mission to change the industry one tea cup at a time. Since the beginning, their lead-free teaware has been giving people affordable, beautiful, and sustainable tea solutions that give a boost to your health. They also work closely with manufacturers to make sure their products are following better than industry standards so you can reap those healthy benefits.

Teabloom’s borosilicate glass tea sets are sturdy and gorgeous. They have the largest variety of borosilicate glass tea cups and mugs available for every kind of tea-lover. Your new transition into your healthy and clean tea journey starts here. 

www.Teabloom.com

References:

1

https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cms_ia/importalert_122.html

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51485767_Tea_brewed_in_traditional_metallic_teapots_as_a_significant_source_of_lead_nickel_and_other_chemical_elements#:~:text=Most%20teapots%20showed%20a%20high,the%20market%20by%20the%20FASFC

3 https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/lead/health.html#:~:text=Exposure%20to%20high%20levels%20of,a%20developing%20baby's%20nervous%20system

4

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5596182/#:~:text=Long%2Dterm%20exposure%20to%20cadmium,peripheral%20nervous%2C%20and%20respiratory%20systems.

5

https://thegoodlifedesigns.com/how-to-tell-if-dishes-have-lead/

6

https://www.ddpsinc.com/knowledge/what-are-the-benefits-of-borosilicate-glass