A Fix That Doesn’t Stick: British Scientists Invent Non-Stick, Water-Soluble Chewing Gum
You’re walking along down the street humming a happy tune because you’re having one of those remarkably great days, and then you take the step that stops you dead in your tracks.
We all know the feeling of slowly trying to peel our heel up from a gooey sidewalk. This is the unmistakable experience of stepping in freshly chewed gum.
But those sticky situations and the unsightly stretches of asphalt pocked with blackened gum may soon be a thing of the past, thanks to British scientists at Bristol University who have created the first non-stick gum, reports Fiona MacRae in the Daily Mail (“Scientists Invent the World’s First Non-Stick Chewing Gum That Washes Off Pavements,” Sep. 13, 2007).
The gum, called Revolymer 7, Rev 7 for short, is reportedly still full of taste and has the same chewy consistency, but can be easily peeled off hard surfaces and washed off sidewalks with just water, which could save cities thousands in specialized gum clean-up costs.
Gumming for Change
The United States tops all other nations in gum consumption, with sales reaching around $2 billion a year. All that gum in people’s mouths translates into gobs of discarded gum in movie theaters, on park benches, under tables, and all over pavement and parking lots. Chewing gum doesn’t break down over a period of time, so gum litter accumulates and remains difficult to remove.
According to Daimer Steam Cleaners, gum removal procedures cost U.S. taxpayers $2 to $3 per piece of gum. In Great Britain, writes MacRae, gum clean-up can cost councils £150 million—over $300 million—a year.
It’s this proliferation of carelessly thrown-down gum that provided the impetus for inventor Terence Cosgrove, a physical chemist and professor at Bristol University.
“Chewing gum is a social habit that goes around the world. But unfortunately, a large number of people dispose of their gum inappropriately,” says Cosgrove, quoted in MacRae’s article. “It is unpleasant, could have health issues associated with it, and is unsightly.”
To create the non-stick gum, Cosgrove and his fellow scientists used the basic gum formula of synthetic rubber, chalk, wax, sugar and flavorings, but replaced the gum’s sticky component, an adhesive compound also found in car tires, with a non-stick synthetic substitute.
For all you gum chewers and smackers out there, Cosgrove’s creation could be paradise in a stick. At the 2007 Festival of Science held by the British Association for the Advancement of Science, the Bristol team announced that tests of their product showed the non-stick formula is attracted to water, making it effortless to wash away—just rain will do the trick—and easy to remove from both shoe soles and hair.
Say goodbye to mashing that messy mixture of peanut butter and ice cubes in your hair to detangle the wads of gum you woke up with on your pillow instead of in your mouth.
God Save the Sidewalks
The new gum, which will only be produced in mint and lemon flavors at first, is scheduled for a small-scale release in the U.K. next year if is meets safety regulations. In the meantime, its creators are continuing to seek a major confectioner for wide distribution.
Emma Brennan of the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign expresses optimism about the invention’s potential to make a difference on the walkways of London, where Oxford Street alone, according to MacRae, wears an estimated 300,000 pieces of discarded gum.
“It can cost up to £20,000 to use power-washers or steam cleaners to remove gum from town center,” says Brennan.
But she hopes the removal of the sticky factor in Cosgrove’s gum doesn’t encourage gum lovers to chew and dispose irresponsibly.
Says Brennan, “It is important that people don’t use the invention of non-stick gum to justify dropping it on the pavement rather than putting in the bin.”