And that by chewing it you are ingesting a bunch of microplastics? Please confirm if this is true. I don’t want to believe.
Side question: what alternative means is there for sustained, minty fresh breath that does not involve ingesting microplastics? (Mints don’t work that great imo, the freshness wears off too fast. Gum was my go-to. Now what is left?)
all the famous brand names, have aspartame for sugar free. there are specifically non-aspartame sugar free gum.
Xantham gum is petroleum based no?
Edit: I mean that as a bad thing.
Petroleum sounds worse than plastic lol (I know it’s probably fine)
Not a chemist, but plastic is just a general category of “lots of molecules linked together” (polymers). Plant cellulose is technically a polymer, so is DNA, but colloquially plastic tends to refer to ones specifically made industrially from fossil oil, like PVC, ABS and so on. Xanthan gum is made by fermenting sugars and linking them together, so it is technically a polymer, but not what people tend to refer to when talking about plastic. Idk about microplastic effects, but it is pretty well biodegradable and considered safe according to the internet. I wouldn’t worry about that, not any more than about other health risks like charring, red meat, sugar, alcohol, regular old microplastics…
A whole, dried clove held in your cheek. Eat a piece of pickled ginger. Rinse and gargle with bicarb water.
Yes it’s true. Gum base is made from various polymers and plastics, either synthetic or naturally extracted from plants. Regardless of whether it’s natural or synthetic, some microparticles will strip off into your saliva during chewing and enter your digestive tract. The vast majority of this will pass all the way through your digestive system without ever being absorbed into your bloodstream. But there may be nanoparticles small enough to pass through your gut membranes into your bloodstream.
The amount that gets absorbed is unknown, as are the long term affects of this. It’s clearly not dangerous in the short term, else billions would be sick all the time from chewing gum. But more science needs to be done to fully understand the implications of this.
As for alternatives, altoids are a particularly strong mint that lasts, imo. But if mints aren’t your jam, you can always keep a small bottle of mouth wash with you to get an occasional swish from (be careful not to dry your mouth out with it, or that will make your breath and oral health worse) and dissolvable breath strips if you can find them (feels like they’re nowhere near as common as they where when I was a kid). Also proper oral hygiene including twice daily tongue brushing/scraping keeps your breathe from getting bad in the first place, even if it’s not actually minty from that.
i use sugar free xylitol mints, no aspartame in those.
We need to bring back Binaca.
It’s not natural to have minty fresh breath. It’s natural to succumb to infection and die, though, so don’t worry if that happens.
In any case, one can achieve ‘minty-breath’ (for a while, anyway) using altoids (etc), or actual leaves, and possibly extracts / sprays.
It’s not like gum is the only source.
Microplastics specifically mean small bits, like hard plastic that’s crumbled. Gum is more like a really soft rubber. If you swallow it, then that’s a macroplastic. If you don’t, it’s fine, because it’s not really flaking off.
Like someone else mentioned, they can also use natural, but still inedible ingredients to provide the chewyness, not just artificial polymers.
The research completely disagrees:
Surprisingly, synthetic chewing gum released a similar (p > 0.8) number of microplastics as natural or plant-based chewing gums.
So basically, there’s microplastics in it as a contaminent, like in actual food. The base itself conclusively doesn’t generate them.
Thank you for finding the research that confirms it empirically. I was just going off of material science, before.
There’s nothing quite like when someone reads a study and doesn’t understand it, yet is such a smug, condescending arsehole whilst being completely wrong.
Edit: JFC, you didn’t even get past the abstract.
From the last sentence in the abstract:
The result reveals that chewing gum consumption, irrespective of the type of chewing gums, could result in direct ingestion of microplastics.
I think it may be the opposite? When synthetic chewing gum release the same amount of micro plastics as natural or plany-based gums, it’s not because they’re both releasing “baseline” micro plastics. It’s that they’re both releasing high levels levels of micro plastics.
Take this with a grain of salt though, as there’s no easy “baseline” level of micro plastics found in food for us to compare to, and different types of microplastics should theoretically have different biological effects depending on the polymer they originally came from (and there are MANY different types of plastics).
From the introduction, they quite a different study:
Daily human intake of microplastics from these food is estimated to be approximately 0.0002–1,531,524 microplastics per day (Heo et al., 2024).
This was kind of crazy to me. I’d assume the ideal level of micro plastics in my food is zero. So in the context of the amount listed by this particular study (“we found that each gram of chewing gum could release up to 637 microplastics, and 94 % of microplastics were released within the first 8 min of chewing”) … gum is maybe not a major concern? But it depends on the types of microplastics being released - like I said before, not all microplastics are the same in make-up or potential harm (I believe - I’m only a chemist, not a biochemist).
Fun fact: The higher end of the daily microplastic consumption estimate (about 1.5 million micro plastics daily) comes primarily from water bottles!
Also note that I can’t speak to the trustworthiness or quality of either of these studies, since I haven’t read their methodologis and literature review on a phone is torture.
I have a hard time believing that chewing a piece of plastic for thirty minutes would not cause you to ingest microplastics.
This person has absolutely no idea what they’re talking about.
I linked the actual study above, but here’s an article from the American Chemical Society explaining a ULCA study linking chewing gum to microplastic exposure.
Depends on the plastic. Goo doesn’t flake, regardless of how close you look. They actually use that principle to keep dust out of semiconductor cleanrooms.
Although, if you’re really worried, you could just suck on a breath mint. Probably get rid of any plastic kitchen utensils, as well. Those definitely shed particles.
I’m sure industrial strength goo would not flake if you designed it for that purpose but I’m not sure if the pack of gum I bought for a few dollars in a vending machine would be of the same quality
To my understanding yes, when the ingredients list includes “gum base”, which is a mixture of chemicals like polyethylene (plastic). I believe there are chewing gum products that don’t include “gum base” or any other plastic ingredients
it’s usually xylitol, but yes.
almost alway xylitol, because it helps with saliva production. rarely its stevia or some wierd sugar alcohol,.
Floss daily. That’s the best way to ensure your breath isn’t bad.
But not with Oral-B “glide” floss, because it has a shocking amount of PFAS.
God dammit. Every time I think I’m doing something right… Lol
Frankly it should be criminal for them to even put PFAS in hygiene products, it’s reasonable to assume floss is nontoxic. Apparently some recent studies have found mucilagenous fiber (like what is in oatmeal, peas, carrots, beans, and Metamucil) help your body remove PFAS, if you’re worried about potential past exposure.
Oh awesome, I love fibre. I get those fibre-boosted cereals!
I have some bad news about those fibre-boosted cereals…
Just kidding, no PFAS there.
Donating blood, especially plasma, has also shown to be a good way to reduce pfas and plastics in your blood
Just giving it to someone else?
Awesome. So the only floss that doesn’t break between my tight teeth is bad. Figures.
There used to be organic floss in the “healthy” isle of my local grocery store. I switched to that but for some reason it’s no longer stocked (probably low sales?). Now I have to compromise with a PFAS-free variant but still plastic.
yea the strings are almost always nylon/polyester(its to give it strength), theres like 1 or 2 brands that are silk, but they are less effective at flossing.
the organic floss could be silk? i used burst floss the other week, but even without the charcoal(which is a big no no) its still abrasive, and it shreads easily so i switched to 2 other knock off brands.
I purchased silk floss online. It works quite well.
silk or NOBS expanding floss
Was using that Oral-B glide shit for ages because it was so easy to floss with. Now I use a silk floss that’s objectively a worse flossing experience but I’ve adjusted to it and I’m not scraping off forever chemicals into my mouth so that’s an overall win 👍
i use expanding floss, pfas, pFTE free. silk seems flimsy though, from what ive seen on the reviews, i think nobs is one of them, it comes in akward jar. some brands are more durable than others, and they do clean out the debris from under the gums better. some of them are heavily scented with oils, so be warned of those. the italian owned brands are wierdly almost chinese-esque quality to it. i like the thick ones more, than the thin ones.
Tongue scraper too
I’m pretty miffed I didn’t learn about tongue scrapers until well into my 20’s. Seriously overlooked.
Floss mainly pushes the bacteria further down between your teeth and causes parodontitis. Use those wee brushes instead.
Did you like, do your own research on Tiktok that said almost every dentist on the planet is wrong?
that isnt true at all, you are flossing wrong than. you arnt suppose to force the string into your gums. i rinse out the string in water every tooth gap.
What wee brushes are you talking about?
Interdentals. I like them but a dentist told me they’re basically just toothpicks, they don’t scrape the plaque off the sides of your teeth like floss. They’re great for getting food out, especially when you have small gaps between your teeth.
Mostly, yes. Although the aspartame part is optional, it could be any other sweetener or even real sugar.
it’s mostly a type of latex, some waxes, vegetable oils, lecithin, and glycerin, terpenes, but not polymer plastics.
Sadly it indeed can include polymer plastics
In which countries?
I can’t speak for other countries, but in the U.S. companies are allowed to have plastic polymers included in their “gum base” and only have to write “gum base” on the ingredient list, so you just have to assume it’s in there.
Well, in USA that is not surprising at all. But elsewhere I would not really assume it.
Even plant based gums, like those made from chicle sap are a polymer chain that will chip off with chewing and enter your system. The major difference is that those particles are typically still biodegradable. That doesn’t necessarily make them safe, but they shouldn’t stick around forever.
If you can put a plastic straw in your mouth…
It is kind of weird, but the reasoning holds. Certain artificial polymers may well be allowed in a lot of countries. The EU doesn’t even like mixing wine grapes, though, so maybe not them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gum_base
I was today years old when I learned that talc is used as a filler in in acidic gums, so like every fruit flavor.
Hope they are paying for the asbestos free talc.
Why would you want asbestos-free talc? That’s like getting ribs without the sauce!
I also suggest inhaling your talc for best results.
I heard that myself a couple years ago and was equally disappointed/disbelieving. I started looking for more natural plant-based alternatives, but they’re actually a plastic polymer too. If you’re out hiking and forage for spruce/pine resin directly from the source: it’s still plastic. Very surprising, not what I would have intuited.
It’s not my field so I don’t know if the plant-based stuff is the same level of harm as petroleum-based plastic, but I would imagine either way it’s breaking down into undigestible particles that you’re stuck with for life.
As far as an alternative goes for minty breath: nothing stops you from cutting out the middleman and chewing on mint leaves directly. They grow like weeds so if you get some in your garden you’ll never run out. I guess the freshness probably doesn’t last as long that way, but it makes up for itself in intensity which is just as important for a palate cleanser imo. You could probably get more mileage out of it by turning it into iced tea, then you can sip it whenever you need some freshness.
i dont think you want to use a dirty pine needle/resin on your teeth.
You don’t know what dirty things I like in my mouth
If you’re out hiking and forage for spruce/pine resin directly from the source: it’s still plastic.
There’s such a thing as naturally occurring plastic? I’m sure that’s not as bad for you though, right?
As far as an alternative goes for minty breath: nothing stops you from cutting out the middleman and chewing on mint leaves directly.
That’s an interesting idea.
There’s such a thing as naturally occurring plastic? I’m sure that’s not as bad for you though, right?
Cyanide is “natural”. Not everything natural is “good” and not everything artificial is “bad”.
Yes, I don’t disagree, but one of the main reasons why plastics are bad for you is that they don’t break down, but natural materials seem to break down just fine generally speaking
Fun fact: ricin will kill you, castor oil is great, used internally and externally, especially cold pressed organic.
what’s ricin and how does it relate to castor oil?
To my understanding (though admittedly I’m not like a materials scientist or anything so take this with a grain of salt), “plastic” is a somewhat fuzzy term, the things it generally refers to are artificial polymers, but there are also a lot of naturally occurring polymers used in biology, and it’s not like chemicals care if they’re made by humans or not. One could call naturally occurring polymer materials plastic, but if you did that, you would have to say that, for example, things like wood and insect shells are made of plastic, which isn’t really how people generally use that word. Naturally occurring ones are probably less likely to create “microplastic” type issues though because there has generally been enough time for stuff to evolve to break those materials down, whereas purely artificial ones are too recent for that.
Yeah, the natural stuff isn’t really what we call “plastic”, and it does break down better. The synthetic stuff is much more durable, which is the problem.
Birch tar is at least very close to plastic after it’s hardened
Mastic I guess would be the next best thing.
I tried it but it’s too hard, you cannot really chew it. Even if you make it softer it’ll get harder after a while (heh)
Well shit.
Edit: Apparently me being mad at finding this out is downvote worthy? I’m just scratching my head at this one.
People will downvote anything.
No we won’t! We don’t argue for nothing either so go ahead and jot that down!
I’m not a nutritionist or a food chemist so I have no idea about the micro plastics
You could make like the log lady in Twin Peaks and chew on pitch. No idea about flavor or whatever.
What’s pitch?
