Chewing gum can swallow hundreds of microplastic pieces

Some types of chewing gum emit up to 600 pieces of microplastic - Illustration: premierdentalohio.com

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the US said that people can swallow hundreds of microplastic pieces when chewing gum. At the same time, the group also warned people about environmental pollution caused by chewing gum residue, according to AFP news agency on March 28.

The UCLA study focused on an understudied way in which microplastics enter the human body: chewing gum. Lisa Loew, a UCLA doctoral student, chewed seven sticks of gum from different brands before the team analyzed her saliva.

The team found that about 1g of chewing gum released an average of 100 pieces of microplastic, with some types of gum releasing more than 600 pieces of microplastic. The average weight of a stick of gum is 150g. So people who chew about 180 sticks of gum a year could be ingesting about 30,000 pieces of microplastic.

However, the researchers stressed that this figure is nothing compared to the amount of microplastics people ingest in other ways. For example, a 2024 study found that a liter of water in a plastic bottle contains an average of 240,000 pieces/microplastic particles.

The research comes as more and more studies are finding microplastics around the world, from mountaintops to the bottom of the ocean and even in the air we breathe.

Researchers have also found microplastics in the human body, including in the lungs, blood and brain, raising concerns about their potential impact on human health. However, there is no direct evidence to date that microplastics are harmful to human health.

Chewing gum residue can also pollute the environment - Photo: PIXELSHOT/CANVA

The researchers said that the type of chewing gum commonly sold in supermarkets is synthetic, which often contains petroleum-based polymers to give it elasticity. However, this is often not mentioned on the packaging.

The team tested five brands of synthetic chewing gum and five brands of natural chewing gum – which uses plant-based polymers like resin. “To our surprise, we found microplastics in abundance in both types of gum,” said Lowe.

Oliver Jones, a chemistry professor at RMIT University in Australia, said that if ingested in relatively small amounts, microplastics are unlikely to cause any harm to the body. "I don't think we need to stop chewing gum," Jones said.

In addition, the research team also warned about the impact of chewing gum residue on the environment, especially when it is thrown away in public places.

The research has been submitted to a journal for peer review and was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Diego.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nhai-keo-cao-su-co-the-nuot-hang-tram-manh-vi-nhua-20250328104111438.htm