12/10/2025
PDX-Earth Tip: We’ve talked plenty at PDX-Earth about how microplastics are in every facet of life, and how scientists can’t even begin to accurately study the scale and scope of the problem because there’s no control group – basically, no “clean” area – without microplastics to start from.
But surely we can draw the line at chewing gum, right? Well, apparently not.
Chewing gum contributes to one of the most pervasive and least regulated sources of microplastic exposure in the modern diet. Most brand name chewing gum is made from synthetic polymers – the very same plastics used in carrier bags, car tires and glue.
Despite the negative environmental impact of discarded gum, impacts on human health have largely gone unreported. But recent studies indicate that chewing gum can release hundreds of thousands of microplastics per piece into saliva and potentially be ingested into the body, highlighting the need for urgent regulatory reform.
Sadly, this fact has been hidden in plain sight for decades, with manufacturers listing the innocuous wording “gum base” on ingredient labels – a legally permissible but deeply opaque term that masks a complex mix of petrochemical plastics.
Chewing a single piece of plastic gum can release over 250,000 microplastic particles, highlighting potential concerns about possible effects on human health. This exposure particularly impacts young people, who represent the largest group of chewing-gum consumers.
In Great Britain, an estimated 28 million people chew 4 billion pieces of plastic gum every year and about half of them are Gen Z. This means that millions of young consumers may be exposed to microplastics through a product often perceived as harmless.
In the United States, 1.2 billion units of gum are sold each year, with most containing an average of 10 pieces of gum. Between 23.7% and 26.8% of those who chew gum consume it two or three times on a weekly basis and America is estimated to account for 12.3% of the worldwide chewing gum market.
There is an urgent need for regulatory reform and transparency in labelling should be the first step – consumers deserve to know when a product they consume contains plastic. More broadly, policymakers should re-evaluate whether plastics should have any place in food products at all.
Thankfully, the emergence of plastic-free, plant-based chewing gum alternatives demonstrates growing efforts to develop safer and more sustainable materials for consumer products and until this gets sorted out, you’re best to go with plastic-free brands like Milliway, Pur, Refresh, Chewsy and Simply Gum.
For more, visit kpsu.org.
