Chewing Gum Is Flooding Your Body With Microplastics.

A 2025 UCLA pilot study led by Sanjay Mohanty found that a single piece of chewing gum can release between 100 to over 600 microplastic particles per gram, which means a large stick may shed up to 3,000 fragments into your saliva during chewing. Both synthetic and “natural” gums—made with plant-based bases like chicle—were found to release almost identical levels of microplastics, so none are safe.

While there’s no direct proof that these particles harm you, microplastics have been linked in other studies to inflammation, DNA damage, gut issues, and organ dysfunction. If you chew around 180 pieces a year, that’s roughly 30,000 plastic bits ingested—tiny but real. The majority are released within the first few minutes of chewing, so rapid replacement makes matters worse.

Think twice before popping gum—it may be better to skip it or chew one piece longer rather than starting a new one so often.