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Microplastic Contamination: A Rising Environmental Crisis With Potential Oncogenic Implications
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This review examines how microplastics detected in human tissues — blood, placenta, and organs — may act as vectors for carcinogens, including adsorbed heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants, and discusses emerging evidence linking MP accumulation to oncogenic processes.
Microplastics have emerged as pervasive environmental contaminants detected in air, water, food, and even human tissues such as blood and placenta. These particles are now recognized as potential health hazards to humans. Due to their high surface area and ability to adsorb toxic substances, microplastics can act as vectors for heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants, many of which are established carcinogens. Evidence from animal models links microplastic exposure to oxidative stress, inflammation, immune disruption, and tissue damage, mechanisms implicated in cancer pathogenesis. Although direct causal links in humans need investigation, microplastics have been associated with occupational cancer risks and shown to interfere with cellular and metabolic processes. This emerging health threat underscores the urgent need for regulatory oversight, targeted research, and comprehensive public health strategies to mitigate exposure and assess long-term oncogenic implications.
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From Exposure to Oncogenesis: the Role of Microplastics and Associated Pollutants in Cancer - a Literature Review
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This literature review examined the growing evidence linking microplastic exposure to cancer development. Microplastics have been found in human lung, liver, and colon tissue, and research suggests they may promote cancer through chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and by carrying known carcinogens like heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants into the body.
Microplastics and cancer
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This review examines evidence linking microplastics to cancer risk, noting that microplastics have been detected at higher concentrations in human tumor tissues than adjacent healthy tissue, and that they can act as vectors for carcinogens while inducing oxidative stress, inflammation, and genotoxicity.
Microplastics: An Emerging Carcinogen in the Human Body
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This review paper summarizes existing research on microplastics entering the human body through skin, nose, and mouth, with particles detected in faeces, blood, lungs, and placenta. The reviewed studies report that microplastics disrupt cell functions, inflammation, and other processes linked to toxicity and cancer development.
Microplastics as emerging carcinogens: from environmental pollutants to oncogenic drivers
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This review examines growing evidence that microplastics and nanoplastics may play a role in cancer development, with these particles found in human tumor tissues from the lungs, colon, stomach, breast, and other organs. The particles appear to promote cancer through chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, DNA damage, and disruption of key cancer-related signaling pathways. While direct proof of causation in humans is still lacking, the accumulating evidence from lab studies, animal experiments, and human tissue analysis suggests microplastics deserve serious attention as potential contributors to cancer risk.
From exposure to oncogenesis: a review on the multifaceted roles of microplastics in tumor initiation and progression
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This review examined the evidence linking microplastic exposure to tumor initiation and progression, covering physical, chemical, and inflammatory mechanisms by which MPs may promote oncogenesis. The authors conclude that while current evidence is largely preclinical, accumulating data warrant serious concern about microplastics as environmental carcinogens.
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