The gum release hundreds of microplastics directly in the mouth, according to a study presented on Tuesday, although scientists remain very prudent about their possible impact on consumer health.
Every day, humans ingest, inhale or come into contact through the skin with plastic microparticles (less than five millimeters), which have already been detected in the air, water, food, containers, synthetic tissues or cosmetics.
From the lungs and kidneys to blood and brain, microplastics have been found in almost all parts of the human body. Although scientists are not sure of their impact on health, several have already given the alarm.
“I don’t want to alarm people,” Sanjay Mohanty told AFP, the main author of this study presented during a meeting of the American chemistry society and subject to review by other experts, although not yet published.
There is no evidence of a direct relationship between microplastics and alterations of human health, said this researcher at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA).
The objective of the study was rather to highlight a little explored route by which tiny plastic fractions, often invisible, enter our body: gum.
Lisa Lowe, a doctoral student at the UCLA, chewed seven pieces of ten different gum brands and the researchers then conducted a chemical analysis of their saliva. They concluded that a gram of gum released an average of 100 microplastics, but that some of the gum released more than 600. The average weight of a gum is 1.5 grams.
People who make about 180 gum a year could then ingest about 30,000 microplastics, according to these scientists. An insignificant amount compared to many other occasions in which microplastics can be ingested, Mohanty explained.
You may be interested: Ramona transforms Mexico’s culinary wealth into an unforgettable experience
The gum release almost all microplastics in the first eight minutes
For example, other researchers estimated last year that a liter of water in a plastic bottle contained average 240,000 microplastics.
The type of gum that is most sold in supermarkets, called synthetic, contains polymers derived from oil to achieve the chewable effect, the researchers indicated. However, the wrapping does not mention the plastics, just saying “base rubber.”
“No one will tell you what the ingredients are,” Mohanty said.
The researchers analyzed five synthetic gum brands and five natural gum, which uses polymers of plant origin such as the trees sap. “We were surprised to verify that microplastics abounded in both cases,” Lowe told AFP.
And the gum release almost all microplastics in the first eight minutes by mascanding them, he added.
David Jones, a researcher at the British University of Portsmouth, who did not participate in the study, said he was surprised that the researchers had found certain plastics that are not normally present in the gum, suggesting that they could come from another source, such as the water that the student drank.
However, he considered that the global results were not “surprising.”
AFP contacted Wrigley, the world’s biggest gum manufacturer, but did not get an answer.
With agency information.
Do you like photos and news? Follow us on our Instagram
