Your chewing gum may be full of microplastics

Chewing gum may be doing more than just freshening your breath. According to a recent study, each piece of gum could be releasing hundreds – or even thousands – of microplastic particles into your mouth.

This means that, along with the minty taste, you might be getting a mouthful of plastic.

These findings come from scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), who recently conducted a pilot study to test how much microplastic can be released during gum chewing. Their goal wasn’t to raise alarm but to shed light on an everyday source of plastic exposure that hasn’t been widely considered.

“Our goal is not to alarm anybody,” said Sanjay Mohanty, the project’s principal investigator and an engineering professor at UCLA.

“Scientists don’t know if microplastics are unsafe to us or not. There are no human trials. But we know we are exposed to plastics in everyday life, and that’s what we wanted to examine here.”

More plastic than you think

Microplastics – tiny particles between 1 micrometer and 5 millimeters wide – are found in food, drinks, packaging, clothes, and even the air we breathe. But chewing gum, despite being so common, hasn’t received much attention as a source.

Gum is typically made from a rubbery base, along with sweeteners and flavorings. Some gums use synthetic rubber made from petroleum-based plastics. Others use natural bases like tree sap.

The UCLA team wanted to see if chewing either kind would release microplastics.

“Our initial hypothesis was that the synthetic gums would have a lot more microplastics because the base is a type of plastic,” explained Lisa Lowe, a graduate student at UCLA and the study’s presenter.

How the tests were done

The researchers picked ten different chewing gum brands – five synthetic and five natural. To limit variables, all seven samples of each gum brand were chewed by the same person.

In one test, the person chewed each piece for four minutes, pausing every 30 seconds to produce saliva samples. After that, a mouth rinse was added to the sample.

In another test, they collected saliva every few minutes for up to 20 minutes. The samples were examined under a microscope and through spectroscopy to detect and identify plastic particles.

On average, each gram of gum released about 100 microplastic particles. Some pieces released as many as 600 particles per gram.

Since most pieces of gum weigh between two and six grams, a large piece could release up to 3,000 microplastics while it is being chewed. And with the average person chewing 160 to 180 pieces per year, that could add up to around 30,000 ingested plastic particles annually.

Not just synthetic gums

“Surprisingly, both synthetic and natural gums had similar amounts of microplastics released when we chewed them,” said Lowe.

Both types contained the same kinds of plastic – polyolefins, polyethylene terephthalates, polyacrylamides, and polystyrene. The most common of these were polyolefins, which include common plastics like polyethylene and polypropylene.

Most of the microplastics were released during the first two minutes of chewing. But this wasn’t because of enzymes breaking things down. It was simply due to the abrasive motion of chewing.

“The plastic released into saliva is a small fraction of the plastic that’s in the gum,” says Mohanty.

In fact, by the eight-minute mark, 94% of the detectable plastic particles had already been released.

What can you do about it?

While the study only tracked plastic particles 20 micrometers or larger due to equipment limits, it’s possible that even smaller particles went undetected. These could include nano-sized plastics, which may be more easily absorbed by the body.

More research will be needed to understand the presence and potential health impacts of the nanoparticles.

If you’re concerned, chewing a single piece of gum for longer rather than popping in several for a short chew may help reduce your exposure.

Aside from the potential health concerns, improperly discarded gum also adds to plastic pollution in the environment. “So, be mindful about the environment and don’t just throw it outside or stick it to a gum wall,” said Mohanty.

Next time you reach for a stick of gum, remember that how you chew it and how you dispose of it could matter more than you think.

Details of the study will be presented at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society.

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