• Question: why wont chewing gum decompose?

    Asked by tarporleyarianne7 to Duncan, Grant, Julie, Nik, Rachel on 12 Mar 2013. This question was also asked by dpdoubled, kaitlyn2001.
    • Photo: Grant Campbell

      Grant Campbell answered on 12 Mar 2013:

      Chewing gum has at its base natural or synthetic rubbers. For something to decompose, micro-organisms like bacteria or fungi need to be able to eat it – and the type of rubber used in chewing gum doesn’t contains things that micro-organisms can use as nutrients, so they haven’t developed the ability to break it down.

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