Alert – Scientists find concerning link between chewing gum and cancer… and how to lower your risk

If you’re a frequent gum-chewer, you may be ingesting tens of thousands of microplastics each year, according to a new study.

Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic less than five millimeters long, or smaller than a pencil eraser. They can be found in almost everything, including our air, water, food and apparently, chewing gum. 

Studies suggest that when these pernicious plastic particles work their way into our bodies, they can damage cells and DNA, cause changes in gene activity and increase the risk of developing cancer. 

Researchers have now found that chewing gum releases microplastics into saliva which can then be then swallowed, allowing the particles to infiltrate the digestive system. 

The average gum-chewer may be ingesting the equivalent of 15 credit cards per year.

Gum is mostly made of three basic ingredients: a rubbery base (or polymer), sweetener and flavorings. 

The researchers found that both synthetic and natural gums contained the same types of polymers and released similar amounts of microplastics when chewed. 

The most common polymers for both types of gum were polyolefins, a group of plastics that includes polyethylene and polypropylene.

If you’re a frequent gum-chewer, you may be ingesting tens of thousands of microplastics each year, according to a new study

While previous studies have shown that ingesting microplastics could be harmful, ‘our goal is not to alarm anybody,’ said Sanjay Mohanty, lead researcher and engineering professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (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,’ he added in a statement. 

In two separate experiments, Mohanty and his colleagues tested five brands of synthetic gum and five brands of natural gum, all of which can be bought in stores.

In the first experiment, a single test subject chewed seven pieces from each brand separately. 

The person chewed each piece for four minutes and produced saliva samples every 30 seconds, then a final mouth rinse with clean water, all of which was combined into one sample. 

In the second experiment, the researchers evaluated the release rate of microplastics from each piece of gum by collecting saliva samples periodically over a 20 minute stretch of time. 

To assess the spit samples, the plastic particles were either stained red and counted  under a microscope or analyzed using infrared spectroscopy, a technique that identifies and characterizes molecules. 

The researchers found that an average of 100 microplastics were released per gram of gum, although some pieces released as many as 600 microplastics per gram.

Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic less than five millimeters long, or smaller than a pencil eraser. Some studies suggest that consuming them poses serious health risks

The average person chews 160 to 180 small sticks of gum per year, the researchers say. 

That means people ingest around 30,000 microplastics each year from gum alone, on top of the tens of thousands they consume from other foods and beverages.

The researchers found that a piece of gum releases the most microplastics within the first two minutes of chewing, as the coating of the gum is broken down.

By eight minutes in, 94 percent of the plastic particles collected during testing had been released. 

Therefore, to reduce the amount of microplastics you ingest from gum, the researchers suggest chewing one piece longer instead of popping a new one in your mouth every few minutes. 

The team presented their findings at a meeting of the American Chemical Society held from March 23 to 37.