Chewing gum releases microplastics into mouth: researchers
By AFP
March 25, 2025
Gum gets some of its chewiness from polymers similar to those used in car tyres - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Ethan Miller
Daniel Lawler
Chewing gum releases hundreds of tiny plastic pieces straight into people’s mouths, researchers said on Tuesday, also warning of the pollution created by the rubber-based sweet.
The small study comes as researchers have increasingly been discovering small shards of plastic called microplastics throughout the world, from the tops of mountains to the bottom of the ocean — and even in the air we breathe.
They have also been discovered microplastics riddled throughout human bodies — including inside our lungs, blood and brains — sparking fears about the potential effect this could be having on health.
“I don’t want to alarm people,” Sanjay Mohanty, the lead researcher behind the new study, told AFP.
There is no evidence directly showing that microplastics are harmful to human health, said Mohanty of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
The new pilot study instead sought to illustrate yet another little-researched way that these mostly invisible plastic pieces enter our bodies — chewing gum.
Lisa Lowe, a PhD student at UCLA, chewed seven pieces each of 10 brands of gum; Then the researchers ran a chemical analysis on her saliva.
They found that a gramme of gum (0.04 ounces) released an average of 100 microplastic fragments, though some shed more than 600. The average weight of a stick of gum is around 1.5 grammes.
People who chew around 180 pieces of gum a year could be ingesting roughly 30,000 microplastics, the researchers said.
This pales in comparison to the many other ways that humans ingest microplastics, Mohanty emphasised.
For example, other researchers estimated last year that a litre (34 fluid ounces) of water in a plastic bottle contained an average of 240,000 microplastics.
– ‘Tyres, plastic bags and bottles’ –
The most common chewing gum sold in supermarkets is called synthetic gum, which contains petroleum-based polymers to get that chewy effect, the researchers said.
However packaging does not list any plastics in the ingredients, simply using the words “gum-based”.
“Nobody will tell you the ingredients,” Mohanty said.
The researchers tested five brands of synthetic gum and five of natural gum, which use plant-based polymers such as tree sap.
“It was surprising that we found microplastics were abundant in both,” Lowe told AFP.
The gum shed almost all of the microplastics during the first eight minutes of chewing, she added.
David Jones, a researcher at the UK’s University of Portsmouth not involved in the study, told AFP that manufacturers should be forced to give more specific ingredients than just “gum-based”.
Jones said he was surprised that the researchers found certain plastics not known to be in gum, suggesting they could have possibly come from another source.
But the overall findings were “not at all surprising”, he added.
People tend to “freak out a little bit” when told that the building blocks of chewing gum were similar to what is found “in car tyres, plastic bags and bottles”, Jones said.
Lowe also warned about the plastic pollution from chewing gum — particularly when people “spit it out onto the sidewalk”.
The study, which has been submitted to a peer-reviewed journal but not yet published, was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Diego.
The world’s biggest chewing gum manufacturer, Wrigley, did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.
By AFP
March 25, 2025
Gum gets some of its chewiness from polymers similar to those used in car tyres - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Ethan Miller
Daniel Lawler
Chewing gum releases hundreds of tiny plastic pieces straight into people’s mouths, researchers said on Tuesday, also warning of the pollution created by the rubber-based sweet.
The small study comes as researchers have increasingly been discovering small shards of plastic called microplastics throughout the world, from the tops of mountains to the bottom of the ocean — and even in the air we breathe.
They have also been discovered microplastics riddled throughout human bodies — including inside our lungs, blood and brains — sparking fears about the potential effect this could be having on health.
“I don’t want to alarm people,” Sanjay Mohanty, the lead researcher behind the new study, told AFP.
There is no evidence directly showing that microplastics are harmful to human health, said Mohanty of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
The new pilot study instead sought to illustrate yet another little-researched way that these mostly invisible plastic pieces enter our bodies — chewing gum.
Lisa Lowe, a PhD student at UCLA, chewed seven pieces each of 10 brands of gum; Then the researchers ran a chemical analysis on her saliva.
They found that a gramme of gum (0.04 ounces) released an average of 100 microplastic fragments, though some shed more than 600. The average weight of a stick of gum is around 1.5 grammes.
People who chew around 180 pieces of gum a year could be ingesting roughly 30,000 microplastics, the researchers said.
This pales in comparison to the many other ways that humans ingest microplastics, Mohanty emphasised.
For example, other researchers estimated last year that a litre (34 fluid ounces) of water in a plastic bottle contained an average of 240,000 microplastics.
– ‘Tyres, plastic bags and bottles’ –
The most common chewing gum sold in supermarkets is called synthetic gum, which contains petroleum-based polymers to get that chewy effect, the researchers said.
However packaging does not list any plastics in the ingredients, simply using the words “gum-based”.
“Nobody will tell you the ingredients,” Mohanty said.
The researchers tested five brands of synthetic gum and five of natural gum, which use plant-based polymers such as tree sap.
“It was surprising that we found microplastics were abundant in both,” Lowe told AFP.
The gum shed almost all of the microplastics during the first eight minutes of chewing, she added.
David Jones, a researcher at the UK’s University of Portsmouth not involved in the study, told AFP that manufacturers should be forced to give more specific ingredients than just “gum-based”.
Jones said he was surprised that the researchers found certain plastics not known to be in gum, suggesting they could have possibly come from another source.
But the overall findings were “not at all surprising”, he added.
People tend to “freak out a little bit” when told that the building blocks of chewing gum were similar to what is found “in car tyres, plastic bags and bottles”, Jones said.
Lowe also warned about the plastic pollution from chewing gum — particularly when people “spit it out onto the sidewalk”.
The study, which has been submitted to a peer-reviewed journal but not yet published, was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Diego.
The world’s biggest chewing gum manufacturer, Wrigley, did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.
EVEN SMALLER THAN MICROPLASTICS
By Dr. Tim Sandle
DIGITAL JOURNAL
March 24, 2025
Europe produced 58.8 million tonnes of plastics in 2022. — © AFP JOSH EDELSON
Could plastic nanoparticles be interfering with oxygen transport in living organisms? A new study from Pusan National University reveals that polystyrene nanoplastics—commonly found in packaging—disrupt red blood cell maturation in zebrafish embryos, potentially impacting aquatic life.
Polystyrene nanoparticles are widely used in consumer products. The researchers found that nanoparticle exposure alters RBC maturation, increasing immature cells while reducing mature RBCs. The study also reveals interference with heme synthesis, a process critical for oxygen transport, emphasizing the need for further research into nanoplastics’ ecological and health effects.
This was revealed using cutting-edge single-cell RNA sequencing, researchers found that these nanoparticles alter gene expression, disrupt heme synthesis, and reduce mature RBCs, raising concerns about their ecological and health effects.
Negotiators hope to agree the world’s first binding treaty on plastic pollution this year – Copyright AFP/File TIMUR MATAHARI
Red blood cells are essential for carrying oxygen throughout the body. In this study, zebrafish embryos exposed to polystyrene nanoparticles showed an increase in immature RBCs and a decrease in mature RBCs. This suggests that the nanoparticles disrupt normal blood cell maturation.
The research team used single-cell RNA sequencing to study changes in gene expression linked to RBC development. They found that exposure to polystyrene nanoparticles interfered with the process by which immature blood cells mature into functional RBCs. Specifically, there was an accumulation of common myeloid progenitors (CMPs), which are early-stage blood cells.
Further investigations revealed that polystyrene nanoparticles disrupt heme synthesis by down-regulating key genes, thereby reducing RBCs’ oxygen-carrying capacity. This was confirmed by mass spectrometry, which detected a significant decrease in hemin levels in exposed embryos.
The research also showed that polystyrene nanoparticles affected overall protein production in RBCs, particularly reducing the expression of rps7, a gene involved in protein synthesis. To confirm the role of rps7, the team conducted knockdown experiments, which led to facial malformations and a reduction in RBCs in zebrafish embryos. These results indicate that nanoparticles impair the protein synthesis machinery necessary for RBC development.
The study’s findings have critical environmental implications. The tested concentrations of polystyrene nanoparticles (0.1–10 µg/mL) are comparable to levels detected in natural water sources, suggesting that aquatic organisms may already be experiencing similar disruptions.
With nanoplastics already in our ecosystems, this study raises urgent questions about their broader effects on aquatic life and human health and the need for further investigation and regulation.
The research appears in the journal Zoological Research, titled “Deciphering the toxic effects of polystyrene nanoparticles on erythropoiesis at single-cell resolution.”
By Dr. Tim Sandle
DIGITAL JOURNAL
March 24, 2025
Europe produced 58.8 million tonnes of plastics in 2022. — © AFP JOSH EDELSON
Could plastic nanoparticles be interfering with oxygen transport in living organisms? A new study from Pusan National University reveals that polystyrene nanoplastics—commonly found in packaging—disrupt red blood cell maturation in zebrafish embryos, potentially impacting aquatic life.
Polystyrene nanoparticles are widely used in consumer products. The researchers found that nanoparticle exposure alters RBC maturation, increasing immature cells while reducing mature RBCs. The study also reveals interference with heme synthesis, a process critical for oxygen transport, emphasizing the need for further research into nanoplastics’ ecological and health effects.
This was revealed using cutting-edge single-cell RNA sequencing, researchers found that these nanoparticles alter gene expression, disrupt heme synthesis, and reduce mature RBCs, raising concerns about their ecological and health effects.
Negotiators hope to agree the world’s first binding treaty on plastic pollution this year – Copyright AFP/File TIMUR MATAHARIRed blood cells are essential for carrying oxygen throughout the body. In this study, zebrafish embryos exposed to polystyrene nanoparticles showed an increase in immature RBCs and a decrease in mature RBCs. This suggests that the nanoparticles disrupt normal blood cell maturation.
The research team used single-cell RNA sequencing to study changes in gene expression linked to RBC development. They found that exposure to polystyrene nanoparticles interfered with the process by which immature blood cells mature into functional RBCs. Specifically, there was an accumulation of common myeloid progenitors (CMPs), which are early-stage blood cells.
Further investigations revealed that polystyrene nanoparticles disrupt heme synthesis by down-regulating key genes, thereby reducing RBCs’ oxygen-carrying capacity. This was confirmed by mass spectrometry, which detected a significant decrease in hemin levels in exposed embryos.
The research also showed that polystyrene nanoparticles affected overall protein production in RBCs, particularly reducing the expression of rps7, a gene involved in protein synthesis. To confirm the role of rps7, the team conducted knockdown experiments, which led to facial malformations and a reduction in RBCs in zebrafish embryos. These results indicate that nanoparticles impair the protein synthesis machinery necessary for RBC development.
The study’s findings have critical environmental implications. The tested concentrations of polystyrene nanoparticles (0.1–10 µg/mL) are comparable to levels detected in natural water sources, suggesting that aquatic organisms may already be experiencing similar disruptions.
With nanoplastics already in our ecosystems, this study raises urgent questions about their broader effects on aquatic life and human health and the need for further investigation and regulation.
The research appears in the journal Zoological Research, titled “Deciphering the toxic effects of polystyrene nanoparticles on erythropoiesis at single-cell resolution.”
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