A proposed law in New Jersey could eventually ban chewing gum across the state.
The Protecting Against Microplastics Act, introduced by Democratic Assemblywomen Shama Haider and Margie Donlon, has triggered public backlash because it could also affect tea bags, cutlery and other everyday products sold in the Garden State.
The lawmakers cited research indicating that chewing gum can release microplastics into the body within the first few minutes of use.
If approved, the legislation would provide $3 million in taxpayer funding to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to oversee enforcement. The proposed restrictions would also cover plastic plates, cutlery, containers, cleaning products and cosmetics.
New Jersey is among several states seeking broader action on microplastic pollution, but Haider’s office said this would be the first bill to specifically target consumer products such as chewing gum.
Fourteen other states, including California, New York and Oregon, have raised concerns about what they described as the “rapidly growing evidence” that microplastics have a “negative impact on the environment and public health.”
Under the bill’s initial phase, chewing gum manufacturers would have to label products containing microplastics for two years.
Once that period ended, companies that continued using the material would be required to remove those products from store shelves.
Assemblywomen Margie Donlon, left, and Shama Haider, right, introduced the proposal that could ban chewing gum in New Jersey
The proposed law would begin with mandatory labels for products containing microplastics. After two years, those products could be banned entirely
The legislation would also impose fines of up to $25,000 on anyone selling chewing gum on the black market. Products would be exempt if they did not contain “intentionally added microplastics,” even when trace amounts were detected in their packaging.
Haider said the measure is not designed to permanently make the products unavailable, emphasizing that “this bill is focused entirely on public health.”
“It is my hope that by starting with a label requirement, the bill will give manufacturers the opportunity to remove microplastics before it gets to the point of prohibiting sales.”
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The proposal has drawn angry reactions on social media. One critic wrote: “With everything else going on, this is what we’re focusing on.”
Another questioned the proposal, asking: “How about we work on actual problems?”
Orville Morales, director of advocacy and health affairs at the New Jersey Dental Association, backed efforts to reduce microplastics in chewing gum but said the proposed legislation needs greater clarity.
A University of California, Los Angeles study estimated that someone chewing about 160 to 180 pieces of gum over a year could ingest as many as 30 million microplastic particles
The proposal would also cover plastic cutlery, plates, cleaning products and cosmetics
Morales told NJ.com that his agency would work with lawmakers to refine aspects of the bill.
A 2024 University of California, Los Angeles study examined 10 chewing gum brands and found that roughly 94 percent of the microplastics were released during the first eight minutes of chewing.
According to the study, a person chewing around 160 to 180 pieces of gum throughout a year would consume about 30,000 microplastic particles.
An updated study one year later found that the intake might actually be up to 1,000 times higher, close to 30 million particles.
There is still no scientific consensus on the exact human health implications of microplastic consumption but the particles have been found in organs, with some experts warning of DNA and lung damage.
The Democratic proposal would further establish the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to analyze microplastic pollution in the air and establish a program to reduce the particles in the Garden State’s ‘air, water and soil’ by using safer materials.
The bill was brought to the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee, which can approve or amend it, in mid September.
The committee’s next public meeting is yet to be announced and the bill would still need to pass both houses of state Legislature and receive final approval from the governor.