Now you can sit back, take a sip, and relax knowing that you're not putting anything toxic into your body – or are you? An alarming new study shows that some heavy metals can leach into your hot beverages when you microwave your cup.

According to the report, which was published in Environmental Science and Pollution Research, those colorful, glazed ceramic mugs and cups that make your morning coffee and tea a little more cheerful could also be subjecting your body to lead and cadmium.

The researchers from Assam University discovered that microwaving double distilled water in such vessels at 140 degrees Celsius for 2.5 minutes – an average amount of time when you're heating water for tea, for example – caused levels of the heavy metals to greatly exceed the U.S. FDA's permissible limits of 0.5 milligrams per liter.