Study reveals that chewing out hundreds of microplastics in the mouth

Paris. The gum release hundreds of microplastics directly in the mouth, according to a study presented yesterday, although scientists are still 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 peopleSanjay Mohanty, the main author of this study presented during a meeting of the American chemistry society and subjected to review by other experts, even not published, 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, chewed seven pieces of 10 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 these released more than 600. The average weight of a chewing rubber is 1.5 grams.

People who make about 180 gum a year could then ingest about 30 thousand microplastics, according to scientists. An insignificant amount compared to many other occasions in which microplastics can be ingested, Mohanty explained.

For example, other researchers estimated last year that a liter of water in a plastic bottle contained average 240 thousand 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 packaging does not mention the plastics, just saying goma base.

No one will tell you what are the ingredientsMohanty declared.

They analyzed five synthetic gum brands and five of natural, which uses polymers of plant origin such as the trees sap. We were surprised to verify that microplastics abounded in both casesLowe said.

And the gum release almost all microplastics in the first eight minutes by mascanding them, he added.