Your gum may be hazardous to your health

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by cynthia yoo | May 13, 2008 at 01:43 pm
2116 views | 12 Recommendations | 30 comments

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The Canadian federal government is considering a ban on a substance used in the production of chewing gum.  Vinyl acetate, a colourless liquid with a sweet, fruity smell has been linked to causing cancer in lab rats.

Vinyl acetate is one of 17 substances Health Canada could recommend be deemed toxic in a draft report to be published Saturday.

The substance itself is not a direct ingredient in chewing gum. But vinyl acetate is used to make the polymer that's used as a base in gum.

It's also found in a host of other products, such as perfumes, paints and plastics.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the World Health Organization's cancer research arm, has found some evidence vinyl acetate may have caused nasal tumours in lab rats.

There has been no link demonstrated between vinyl acetate and cancer in humans.

Vincent Cogliano, head of the IARC program that identifies environmental factors that can raise the risk of human cancer, says trace amounts of vinyl acetate could make it into polyvinyl acetate, the chewing-gum ingredient.

But even if there were any amount of vinyl acetate in gum, it would be far less than the levels linked to cancer in the lab rats.

"Polyvinyl acetate is made from vinyl acetate. Not necessarily one-hundred-point-zero-zero per cent is bound into the polymer, but there may be some," he said.

Confection companies were quick to distance themselves from vinyl acetate Monday, wary that consumers might recoil from chewing gum like they did from plastic water bottles and baby bottles before last month's bisphenol A announcement. Several companies pulled the plastic products from their shelves before the government labelled bisphenol A a dangerous substance.

Source: thestar.com

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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (30)

recommend This comment thread is now closed
Jarrett Martineau
Jarrett Martineau
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 16:34 on May 13th, 2008

cynthia yoo, is there anything left that isn't hazardous to our health? Gum makes sense though. Gone are the days of gum made from, er, actual gum. Today's concotions of teeth-whitening, breath-freshening, sugar-free sorbitol/mannitol/asparatame additives can't possibly be beneficial. And 'ingredients' like vinyl acetate sound like they found in paint at Home Depot, not being chewed between our teeth.

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iandeth
iandeth

at 19:16 on May 13th, 2008

it makes me kinda anxious, chewing on one after another. plus some degree of addiction.

iandeth has contributed a photo to this story.

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rodgerma
rodgerma

at 22:08 on May 13th, 2008

Colorful and interesting enough to be photographed, second hand gum is as bad as second hand smoke. Well, not quite, but you get the idea...

rodgerma has contributed a photo to this story.

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xinita
xinita

at 22:09 on May 13th, 2008

I'm honoured because you've chosen my picture to be here :D

xinita has contributed a photo to this story.

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LisanneBklyn
LisanneBklyn

at 22:15 on May 13th, 2008

Most people buying gum would assume that the ingredients would be organic. Plastic may come originally from wood sources but it has been mutated to a non-organic form. Now if only our governments would start cracking down on high fructose corn syrup, which has also been mutated into a non-organic state.

azzayindia
azzayindia
flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 23:43 on May 13th, 2008

cynthia yoo, I like this story. It's good stuff.

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thestaciesutra
thestaciesutra

at 01:01 on May 14th, 2008

Thanks for choosing my picture...Glad to be a part of this story...

thestaciesutra has contributed a photo to this story.

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Labyrinth of senses
Labyrinth of senses

at 02:04 on May 14th, 2008

Thanks for inviting me to post my picture here. I'm not much of a healthfreak, I only chewed this for this particular shot. And it is tiresome chewing all the tme, gives you jawcramps.....

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sdsmith
sdsmith

at 03:58 on May 14th, 2008

Japanese Acuo. I just don't trust it anymore.

sdsmith has contributed a photo to this story.

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cellobella
cellobella

at 04:37 on May 14th, 2008

We were in Charleston, South Carolina, and walked to the main markets. This telegraph pole was covered in multi-coloured chewing gum.

cellobella has contributed a photo to this story.

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the story of 100 aisles
the story of 100 aisles

at 04:43 on May 14th, 2008

I might be a hypocrite if I would tell you that I'm not "addicted" to chewing gum ;) It's ironic how every little thing you like - yes, even chewing gum! - turns out to be something that contains some bad substances or other "unknown" things...
anyway, I'm glad that you've chosen my pic for this article :D nice meeting u all ;)

the story of 100 aisles has contributed a photo to this story.

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jclushlife
jclushlife

at 06:18 on May 14th, 2008

Very happy to be a part of your story!  Thanks for CHEWsing my photo!



Best,

Jeremiah Christopher/jclushlife


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koenigboris
koenigboris

at 06:51 on May 14th, 2008

shot by magda pribitzer
and chewing my gum is fun.

koenigboris has contributed a photo to this story.

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Eddy Westveer
Eddy Westveer

at 07:17 on May 14th, 2008

Your gum may be hazardous to your pavement as well

Eddy Westveer has contributed a photo to this story.

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sezdavies
sezdavies

at 08:23 on May 14th, 2008

Thanks for choosing my pic. Happy to contribute. This is a great site - new to me!


Pic is of a wall in Seattle entirely covered in chewing gum. It makes for a bright and colourful spectacle, but a bit worrying that it's so hard-wearing!

sezdavies has contributed a photo to this story.

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Merlijn Hoek
Merlijn Hoek

at 08:25 on May 14th, 2008

This picture was made in "club eleven" in Amsterdam. I do a lot of photography in clubs and always make a picture from the people working at the toilets.

Merlijn Hoek has contributed a photo to this story.

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Mrs. Ober
Mrs. Ober

at 08:28 on May 14th, 2008

thanks for using my photo- I often wonder who looks at them.... 

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Keiva
Keiva

at 09:44 on May 14th, 2008



Keiva has contributed a photo to this story.

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gilmarcil
gilmarcil

at 10:12 on May 14th, 2008

from: www.flickr.com/photos/gilmarcil

(there are other photos of that little girl, with chewing gum or without, in my photostream)

gilmarcil has contributed a photo to this story.

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buitenlander
buitenlander

at 10:42 on May 14th, 2008

buitenlander has contributed a photo to this story.

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mundaylaura
mundaylaura

at 10:48 on May 14th, 2008

all of the pieces of wall by the station were covered at the ends in gum, i dont know if it was a political statement or not but it grabbed my eye, it felt like alot of people were silently marking where they had been. the odd thing is science could identify every individual who added there gum, to me thats a creepy thought.

mundaylaura has contributed a photo to this story.

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ekairos
ekairos

at 01:54 on May 15th, 2008

When I was a kid I just love this jawbreakers.

ekairos has contributed a photo to this story.

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topsy_turvy
topsy_turvy

at 04:03 on May 15th, 2008

that was one of the first times i handled a camera.that was at school there was a strike so ika and i were talking in front of the window,i just started taking picture and she was like scared.
that's all

topsy_turvy has contributed a photo to this story.

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Lauren March.
Lauren March.

at 11:30 on May 15th, 2008

Im so happy my photo was chosen to be here. Thanks so much.

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psyberartist
psyberartist

at 17:31 on May 15th, 2008

giant gumballs, made by layering each newly chewed piece on what was already there.

psyberartist has contributed a photo to this story.

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Brittany Brownlee
Brittany Brownlee

at 20:05 on May 15th, 2008

Thanks for choosing my photo :)

Brittany Brownlee has contributed a photo to this story.

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lilricky08
lilricky08

at 17:25 on May 17th, 2008

What!? I can get cancer from my gum!?!?

lilricky08 has contributed a photo to this story.

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beforesunrise...
beforesunrise...

at 13:04 on May 22nd, 2008

thanks for selecting my photo

beforesunrise... has contributed a photo to this story.

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david lee 7
david lee 7

at 21:20 on May 26th, 2008

Siezed the rare opportunity to take a shot of this kid standing still.

david lee 7 has contributed a photo to this story.

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wickedcown
wickedcown

at 15:01 on June 13th, 2008

Thanks for choosing my picture...Glad to be a part of this story..

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First Flagged at 4:34 PM, May 13, 2008 by Jarrett Martineau
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