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Lead in tealeaves come from roadside air pollution because there is lead in the gasoline and many bad cars on the road. That is why you should not buy tea produced next to the road, or in the city. Longjing is an example. The tourist tea gardens in the city are too close to air pollution for good quality. Although I love Longjing very much and used to buy from small shops in Hangzhou city, I don’t anymore after reading one report in Chinese. I now rely on professional tea people who really love tea and know non-polluted sources for good Longjing, like Tea Hong.
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I don’t have data at hand but there definitely is an excess of lead in tea produced in certain localities in China and some other countries. @Longjing 43, you are correct in that Longjing is a problem when it is produced in some of the fields closer to the urban areas in Hangzhou, although the local government tries very hard to hide the fact. As you have pointed out, air pollution is the main reason for the metal to get into the tealeaves. It is also one of the major pollutions that a rapidly developing country as China has much to do about. I don’t think they can solve the problem any time soon. Meanwhile, I stay clear of all farms close to any urban areas for supplies. That is one thing you have to ask your supplier about: where exactly is that tea coming from?
Another gatekeeper is the EU standard (the strictest in the world) Maximum Residue Levels test (MRL). For over a decade now lead has been included in the list of items to be examined against for. There are over 280 items in that list. Ask your supplier whether they regularly take their tea to such a test.Lastly I have to mention that excessive metals and other pollutants in tea is NOT a China problem. Lead is found in tea from other countries too. Harmful substances are constantly found in various produces from various countries. It just so happen that whoever dominates the local media and information ecology dominates the perception of the average consumer. That is why people in North Korea could believe their lives are better than those in America. Or those in Mainland China would think there are riots in Paris almost everyday, or people shoot each other everywhere in the US.As a smart consumer, we just have to know what to watch out for and how, in order to better protect ourselves, and not to over worry because of some media trying to make an issue out of singular incidents. -
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