Gum will get a few of its chewiness from polymers just like these utilized in automobile tires.
Chewing gum releases a whole lot of tiny plastic items straight into individuals’s mouths, researchers stated on Tuesday, additionally warning of the air pollution created by the rubber-based candy.
The small examine comes as researchers have more and more been discovering small shards of plastic known as microplastics all through the world, from the tops of mountains to the underside of the ocean—and even within the air we breathe.
They’ve additionally found microplastics riddled all through human our bodies—together with inside our lungs, blood, and brains—sparking fears concerning the potential impact this could possibly be having on well being.
“I don’t want to alarm people,” Sanjay Mohanty, the lead researcher behind the brand new examine, advised AFP.
There isn’t any proof immediately exhibiting that microplastics are dangerous to human well being, stated Mohanty of the College of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
The brand new pilot examine as an alternative sought for instance one more little-researched means that these largely invisible plastic items enter our our bodies—chewing gum.
Lisa Lowe, a Ph.D. pupil at UCLA, chewed seven items every of 10 manufacturers of gum; Then the researchers ran a chemical evaluation on her saliva.
They discovered {that a} gram of gum (0.04 ounces) launched a median of 100 microplastic fragments, although some shed greater than 600. The common weight of a stick of gum is round 1.5 grams.
Individuals who chew round 180 items of gum a 12 months could possibly be ingesting roughly 30,000 microplastics, the researchers stated.
This pales compared to the various different ways in which people ingest microplastics, Mohanty emphasised.
For instance, different researchers estimated final 12 months {that a} liter (34 fluid ounces) of water in a plastic bottle contained a median of 240,000 microplastics.
‘Tires, plastic baggage and bottles’
The commonest chewing gum offered in supermarkets is named artificial gum, which incorporates petroleum-based polymers to get that chewy impact, the researchers stated.
Nevertheless, packaging doesn’t record any plastics within the components, merely utilizing the phrases “gum-based.”
“Nobody will tell you the ingredients,” Mohanty stated.
The researchers examined 5 manufacturers of artificial gum and 5 of pure gum, which use plant-based polymers similar to tree sap.
“It was surprising that we found microplastics were abundant in both,” Lowe advised AFP.
The gum shed nearly all the microplastics throughout the first eight minutes of chewing, she added.
David Jones, a researcher on the UK’s College of Portsmouth not concerned within the examine, advised AFP that producers needs to be compelled to provide extra particular components than simply “gum-based.”
Jones stated he was shocked that the researchers discovered sure plastics not recognized to be in gum, suggesting they may have probably come from one other supply.
However the total findings had been “not at all surprising,” he added.
Folks are inclined to “freak out a little bit” when advised that the constructing blocks of chewing gum had been comparable to what’s discovered “in car tires, plastic bags and bottles,” Jones stated.
Lowe additionally warned concerning the plastic air pollution from chewing gum—notably when individuals “spit it out onto the sidewalk.”
The examine, which has been submitted to a peer-reviewed journal however not but printed, was offered at a gathering of the American Chemical Society in San Diego.
The world’s largest chewing gum producer, Wrigley, didn’t reply to AFP’s request for remark.
© 2025 AFP
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Chewing gum releases microplastics into mouth: researchers (2025, March 25)
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