Love chewing gum? One piece could expose you to 250,000 microplastics
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A single piece of gum could expose chewers to 250,000 microplastics
- Chewing a single piece of gum for an hour can release over 250,000 microplastics and nanoplastics into saliva.
- A Queen's University Belfast study highlighted chewing gum as an overlooked source of microplastic exposure.
- Researchers used automated Raman spectroscopy to detect and quantify the particles.
- Microplastics and nanoplastics are a potential health hazard with unknown long-term impacts on the human body.
- The study raises concerns about how long gum lasts in the environment after chewing and its contribution to plastic pollution.