
Chewing gum may release thousands of microplastics into the saliva, study says
Fox News
Researchers at UCLA found that chewing gum – even gum labeled "natural" – can release hundreds to thousands of microplastics per piece into saliva and potentially be ingested.
Lisa Lowe and Jamie Leonard, graduate students at UCLA, along with Sanjay Mohanty, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at UCLA, shared the findings at the American Chemical Society's 2025 meeting in San Diego last month. Participants in the study chewed seven pieces from each brand, one at a time. "The authors of this small pilot study readily admit in their press release that there is no cause for alarm." Gretchen Eichenberg is a contributing reporter for Fox News Digital.
"We use plastic products every day, whether it's a bottle or container," Mohanty told Fox News Digital.