Non-stick chewing gum is created
Rushda:
September 17th, 2007
Everyone knows how disgusting it is to find pieces of used chewing gum stuck to pavements, tables, and all sorts of other places, so it is good news that scientists in the UK have finally developed gum that does not stick. This will mean it is easier to remove than the current gum that is on sale.
The gum has been manufactured by chemical company Revolymer, from Bristol. They have developed a special material that can be added to the gum’s ingredients to make it easier for the gum to be removed from surfaces. A number of tests have been conducted to check the effects of the new polymers that have been added to gum, and have shown that they are even effective on hair, which is usually impossible to break free from gum once attached. As head of research Professor Terence Cosgrove, has said of the new procedure:
“The hydrophilic coating means that you always get a film of water around the gum and that is one of the reasons it is easy to remove - and, in some cases, doesn’t stick at all.”
Revolymer claims that using the new technology it will be able to fight the nuisance of gum deposits, which are said to cost thousands of pounds to clean up each year. Only recently, statistics have shown that London’s Westminster Council had to spend more than £100,000 a year to remove chewing gum from its streets.
All that needs to be done now is for the new invention to pass European health and safety tests, after which it could be in the shops as early as next year, and hence saving the government thousands of pounds.