Chewing gum can shed microplastics into saliva, pilot study finds (www.acs.org)

submitted 1 month ago by tonytins@pawb.social to c/science@lemmy.world

45 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] workerONE@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

What about toothbrushes?

[-] Ledericas@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago

you have to worry how abrasive some are.

[-] randint@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 1 points 1 month ago

I just pulled this out from my ass, but I would guess yes, they do. But you rinse your mouth after brushing your teeth so I would guess it's not that bad? Since you're (mostly) not ingesting the microplastic particles from the toothbrush. But again I'm going off of nothing.

[-] iheartneopets@lemm.ee 10 points 1 month ago

Current advice is actually to not rinse after brushing, as you're meant to let the fluoride of the toothpaste sit against your teeth for thirty minutes.

Unfortunately, I would recommend not losing sleep over either source of microplastics (chewing gum or toothbrushes), until tires and synthetic clothing are done away with by society. Those are much MUCH bigger, inescapable sources of microplastics

[-] CitizenKong@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

Isn't it mostly tires? Which is just another reason humanity has to be cured of this insane car-craziness.

[-] iheartneopets@lemm.ee 5 points 1 month ago

Tires are there biggest ones, yeah, but number two is shedding from synthetic clothing creation and laundering

[-] BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

I think micro plastics are in all the water everywhere.

[-] iheartneopets@lemm.ee 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

We're talking about their major sources, not where they're now consequently found

[-] shekau@lemmy.today 2 points 1 month ago

Why tires? Pls explain?

[-] iheartneopets@lemm.ee 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Because that's what tires are made out of, and they wear away as you drive (that's why you need to replace tires every so often as the treads wear away). That material doesn't just disappear, it gets ground down and dispersed into the environment as they're used.

It's one reason why electric cars aren't a great solution for anyone but car manufacturers—the tires. They'll cut down on fossil fuel use and fuel emissions, yes, but that's not the only way cars pollute.

EDIT: Also, thank you for asking! Always happy to explain :)

[-] Ledericas@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

yea i heard that trick too, unfortunately it can cause perioral dermatitis in people, especially some toothpastes. because it tends to seep out of your lips and sits in the corner irritating the lips.