“Our initial hypothesis was that the synthetic gums would have a lot more microplastics because the base is a type of plastic,” Lisa Lowe, the study’s co-collaborator and a graduate student in Mohanty’s lab, explained in a statement. (Yes, certain types of synthetic gum contain petroleum-based polymers.)

A new study found that both natural and synthetic gum shed microplastics, with each piece of gum producing about 100 pieces of microplastics.

And if you redecorate your home and sand down the old paintwork, the plastic binders in the paint can release microplastics into the air, which you might then inhale. You could swallow them when you drink from single-use plastic water bottles. Now another source of microplastics in the body has been discovered: chewing gum.