These drinks have highest concentration of microplastics

What’s lurking at the bottom of your glass? According to a new study, it might be more than just melted ice or leftover pulp.

Researchers from the University of Birmingham tested 155 samples of popular beverages sold in UK supermarkets and coffee shops and found microplastics in every single one.

While the contamination was widespread, the concentration of these pesky particles varied greatly between drinks — with one surprising factor driving a sharp increase.

Microplastics — tiny fragments of plastic ranging from 1 nanometer to 5 millimeters — are what’s left behind when bigger plastic pieces break down over time.

They can be found everywhere, from cleaning products, clothes and cosmetics to the air we breathe and the food we eat.

These invisible invaders have even turned up inside human bodies, sparking growing concerns about what they might be doing to our health.

Fortunately, the study suggests a simple way to reduce the amount of plastic in your drinks: keep them cold.

Researchers tested 31 different beverages — including coffee, tea, energy drinks, soda and juice — filtering the samples in a lab and analyzing them under a microscope.

“We found a ubiquitous presence of microplastics in all the cold and hot drinks we looked at, which is pretty alarming,” Mohamed Abdallah, the study’s lead author, told The Independent.

Notably, however, the drinks served at higher temperatures contained significantly more microplastics than their cooler counterparts.

Hot tea topped the charts, with an average of 49 to 81 microplastics per liter — more than double the 24 to 38 found in iced tea.

Hot coffee came in second, ranging from 29 to 57 microplastics per liter, edging out iced coffee’s 31 to 43.

The findings suggest that heat speeds up the release of plastic particles from packaging, driving the higher count in hot drinks.

Hot tea served in disposable cups had the most microplastics overall, averaging 22 particles per cup compared to 14 per cup when brewed in glass containers.

“This supports previous studies indicating that heat increases microplastic release from packaging materials, thereby suggesting that hot beverages pose a greater risk of microplastic exposure than cold beverages,” the researchers said.

Still, cold drinks weren’t squeaky clean.

Fruit juice contained between 19 and 41 microplastics per liter, while energy drinks had slightly fewer, ranging from 14 to 36.

Soft drinks had the lowest levels, averaging 13 to 21 microplastics per liter.

Curious about how much plastic we actually swallow, the researchers also surveyed more than 200 adults in the UK about their daily drink habits.

On average, they found that women consume about 1.7 microplastic particles per kilogram of body weight each day, while men take in roughly 1.6.

And that’s just from drinks.

The full impact of microplastic ingestion on human health remains unclear, but scientists have found these particles building up in our blood, brains, kidneys, lungs, livers, testicles and placentas, among other organs and tissues.

Studies suggest microplastics can damage cells, disrupt gut bacteria and trigger inflammation — all of which could throw off our immune system and speed up the aging process.

They can also carry harmful chemicals like heavy metals and hormone disruptors, which may leach into the body and interfere with processes like reproduction and metabolism.

Given these potential long-term risks, Abdallah told The Independent there “should definitely be legislative action” to limit human exposure to microplastics.

“They’re everywhere,” he emphasized.