Toxic Brew

Banned Pesticides In Chinese Tea

If you drink tea, you may want to pay attention. Greenpeace East Asia has recently had samples of Chinese tea tested for pesticides and it found that, of the 18 samples sent, 12 came back as having at least one pesticide globally banned for use on tea.

The pesticides found include, among others, methomyl, banned by WHO for “its high acute toxicity,” and endosulfan, banned by the Stockholm Convention, “due to its toxic properties.” 11 of the 12 offending samples contained these poisons.

While it is no surprise that China is the world’s largest manufacturer of tea, it is also the world’s largest user of pesticides. Actually, that isn’t a surprise at all.

While much of your standard, supermarket teas are safe, if you’re a connoisseur of tea, you’ve done your Asian market browsing. For the time being, you may just want to read the back of the box.

And for those of you who see this as another round of China’s secret war against America–like the toxic baby formula and toys–remember that these companies are selling these goods to their own people as well.

Read more at Greenpeace and read the results in a newly available 20 page reporthere.