Did anyone else see the study just out that black and green tea leaves (not herbal or white tea) bond with some metal toxins in water during the brewing time. The longer it brews, the more lead, etc. binds to the leaves and is removed. There was an article in today's NYT:
Compounds called catechins in tea leaves act like “little Velcro” hooks to which lead molecules latch, said Michelle Francl, a chemist at Bryn Mawr College and the author of a book on the chemistry of tea. Dr. Francl also said that the “ridges and valleys” of the tea leaves provided the necessary surface area for that interaction.
Link to the study is here:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.4c01030