Microplastics in Chewing Gum: The 2025 UCLA Study Explained

Last updated: May 25, 2026

Why chewing gum contains plastic

Most consumers don't realise that the “gum base” in commercial chewing gum, the elastic, water-insoluble part that you actually chew, is typically a synthetic polymer. FDA regulations allow more than 45 different ingredients to be used in gum base, including:

• Polyethylene (the same polymer as plastic bags)
• Polyvinyl acetate (used in white glue)
• Styrene-butadiene rubber (used in car tyres)
• Polyisobutylene (synthetic rubber)
• Paraffin wax (petroleum-derived)

On the label, all of this appears simply as “gum base”, the FDA does not require manufacturers to disclose which polymers are used.

What the 2025 UCLA study actually measured

Mohanty and Lowe's team tested 10 popular gum brands (5 marketed as synthetic, 5 marketed as natural). They had a single chewer chew each sample for up to 20 minutes, then analysed the saliva for microplastic particles using Raman spectroscopy.

Key results:

• Average release: ~100 microplastic particles per gram of gum.
• One outlier brand released 600+ particles per gram.
• 94% of particles were released within the first 8 minutes of chewing.
• Both synthetic-labelled AND natural-labelled gums released particles in similar ranges, suggesting label claims are unreliable.
• The dominant polymers found in saliva matched those used in industrial-grade gum bases: polyolefins, polyacrylamides, and polystyrenes.

How chewing gum compares to other daily microplastic sources

What you actually swallow

Not every particle released ends up in your gut, some stick to teeth, cheek, and tongue surfaces, some get spat out with the gum. The UCLA team estimated that a typical chewer ingests roughly half of the released particles. For someone who chews one piece a day, that's on the order of 15,000 microplastic particles swallowed per year just from gum.

How to chew with less plastic

1. Switch to chicle-based gum. Real chicle comes from the sapodilla tree (manilkara zapota) and is the traditional plant-based gum base. Brands like Glee Gum, Simply Gum, and Chicza use chicle. Read the ingredients list, it should list “chicle” or the specific tree gum, not “gum base”.
2. Don't trust “natural” on the front of the pack.The UCLA study showed natural-marketed gums released particles in similar ranges. Check the ingredients list.
3. Chew less, chew shorter. Most particles release in the first 8 minutes, so a single piece of gum is roughly the same exposure whether you chew it 20 minutes or 60.
4. Consider alternatives. Xylitol-based mints, sugar-free chewy mints with sucralose, or simply a glass of water often satisfy the same craving with zero plastic exposure.
5. Don't recycle wads. Re-chewed gum is harder, more abrasive, and tends to release more particles per minute of chew time.

Is chewing gum dangerous?

On a per-gram basis, gum is a relatively small fraction of total daily microplastic intake compared to bottled water, microwaved plastic containers, or indoor air. But it is also one of the easiest sources to eliminate, there's no functional cost to switching to chicle gum, whereas filtering water requires equipment and avoiding indoor plastic air requires HVAC changes.

For a complete reduction plan that addresses every major exposure source, see how to avoid microplastics.