We're running out of things we can safely enjoy. According to a pilot study presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), earlier this year, chewing on just one stick of gum is enough to release thousands of bits of microplastic into our saliva. And no, it doesn't matter if you're chewing on naturally sourced gum or the stuff many of us impulse-snag from a wire stand while we do groceries. All gum, everywhere, is out to get you.
There have been so many damn studies on microplastics screwing with our health that we're not gonna get into it here. A quick Google search will see you swimming in existential dread (imbued with microplastic.)
Scientists have previously estimated that people ingest at least 50,000 microplastics a year. Given this evaluation, Mohanty and his colleagues decided to investigate the amount of microplastics that's being released by chewing gum. They tested 10 commercially available brands: five synthetic gums and five natural gums. To avoid having to consider different salivas and chewing patterns, the team had a single participant chew seven pieces of each brand.
Well, shit.
Given that damn near everything has microplastics in it of late, including, apparently, our bits, It's difficult to feel what seems like an appropriate amount of dread over this latest discovery. At this time, there's seemingly no way to avoid the ingestion of microplastics. At least if you chew gum, you'll have fresh breath as the contaminants we've released into our environment slowly kill you.
Previously:
• Scientists watch in real time as microplastics block blood vessels in mouse brains
• Microplastics have been found in human blood for the first time ever
• Study: people could be eating a credit card's worth of microplastics per week
• Tea found in delicious microplastic infusion bags
