Mexico City has 40,000 types of bacteria in the gum on its sidewalks, including E. coli and Salmonella. Workers use steam cannons to remove it, with 11,000 pieces removed from one street. Chewing gum has a long history, with ancient Greeks using mastic tree resin and Mayans using sapodilla tree sap. Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna brought chicle to the US in the 19th century, and chewing gum was included in military rations during World War II. Chicle was later replaced with synthetic materials that take years to decompose.
Mexico City officials say there are 40,000 types of bacteria living in the rubber globules dumped on the Mexican capital’s sidewalks, statues and plazas, including E. coli, Proteus and Salmonella. Removing the gum stuck to the sidewalk along Francisco I. Madero Avenue, the capital‘s most famous pedestrian street, is an ongoing struggle. Workers armed with powerful dry steam cannons are deployed during the night. During a recent three-day assault, a 15-person crew removed 11,000 pieces of sticky trash from the driveway.
Chew on these gum facts:
The ancient Greeks used a resin from the mastic tree to exercise their jaws. The Mayans and Aztecs extracted the sap from sapodilla trees, drying it into a latex called tzicli (which has come to be known as the modern “chicle”).
Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna brought chicle north of the border in the 19th century. While imprisoned in the United States, Santa Anna chewed chicle to calm his nerves.
Chewing gum was included in US military rations during World War II. After the war, chicle was replaced with polyvinyl acetate, a super sticky synthetic material that takes up to five years to decompose.
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