New UCLA Research: Consuming This Is Releasing Microplastics in Your Body

Microplastics, which are tiny—sometimes microscopic—pieces of plastic, have already been found in food and beverage products ranging from bottled water to salt, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Recent research found that the average human may ingest as much as 12 plastic grocery bags per year, so it’s no wonder researchers are continuing to investigate where microplastics can show up. March 2025 research found that chewing gum often releases microplastics, too.

According to a press release from the American Chemical Society (ACS), a pilot study suggests chewing on gum may “release hundreds to thousands of microplastics per piece into saliva and potentially be ingested.” The findings were first presented in March at a meeting of the ACS.

Two engineering researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) tested for microplastics in 10 types of gum total—five synthetic gum brands and five natural gum brands. Because gum needs a chewy factor, synthetic gums use “synthetic rubber bases from petroleum-based” substances, according to the release, while natural gums turn to plant-based options “such as chicle or other tree sap.” (If you’ve ever wondered where Chiclets brand gum got its name until it was discontinued in 2016, now you probably know.)

For the study, a participant was tasked with chewing the sample gum products for four minutes each while providing saliva samples every 30 seconds. After four minutes, the participant would do a mouth rinse using clean water for a final sample. It is unclear from the press release how many total individuals chewed gum for saliva samples.

In a separate experiment, the researchers also analyzed saliva samples by collecting them “periodically” over the span of 20 minutes “to look at the release rate of microplastics” from each gum piece.

“Surprisingly, both synthetic and natural gums had similar amounts of microplastics released when we chewed them,” says Lisa Lowe, a UCLA graduate student who assisted with the study and presented the research.

Lowe’s analysis found that each gram of gum (gum pieces are generally between two and six grams) released an average of 100 microplastic particles, though some released up to 600 per gram. The analysis further suggests that chewing on a large piece of gum could lead to the ingestion of about 30,000 microplastics.

The researchers concluded that gum chewing could significantly increase the amount of microplastics ingested.

Despite these potentially foreboding findings, the study’s results are not necessarily meant to alarm people, says Sanjay Mohanty, the study’s principal investigator and an associate professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UCLA. “Scientists don’t know if microplastics are unsafe to us or not. There are no human trials,” Mohanty said in the press release. “But we know we are exposed to plastics in everyday life, and that’s what we wanted to examine here.”

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), microplastics have been found in most human body parts, ranging from placentas to hearts, livers, and kidneys. However, most studies have been conducted in laboratories or have involved animals, not humans, says Mary Margaret Johnson, MD, PhD, in the AAMC’s report. Johnson is a principal research scientist of environmental health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Interestingly, the UCLA study found it only took about two minutes for most of the microplastics to break away from the gum pieces. In addition, 94% of all the particles collected appeared within the first eight minutes of chewing a piece of gum

So, what if you still want a quick after-meal refresher (but also want to avoid unnecessary microplastics)? Here’s a recommendation from Lowe: Stick to just one piece of gum for a longer period of time instead of swapping it out for a new one after a short while.

Beyond being aware of what we’re possibly putting in our bodies, the researchers encourage consideration when disposing of used gum, too. “The plastic released into saliva is a small fraction of the plastic that’s in the gum,” says Mohanty. “So, be mindful about the environment and don’t just throw it outside or stick it to a gum wall.”

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