Study shows microplastics found in saliva after chewing gum

A new research paper has studied how microplastics are found in saliva after chewing gum. Picture: Kieran Clancy

A new study led by Queen’s University Belfast has demonstrated how potentially harmful materials can enter the body from chewing gum.

The research findings, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, were that more than 250,000 microplastics (MPs) were detected in the saliva of the study participant after one hour of chewing a single piece of gum.