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Microplastics across marine food webs: bioaccumulation, exposome interactions, and emerging oncogenic risks
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Tiny plastic bits from pollution are working their way up the ocean food chain—from plankton to the fish we eat—and scientists have found these microplastics can carry toxic chemicals and may even affect our cells in ways linked to cancer risk. This review pulls together existing research showing seafood already contains measurable amounts of microplastics, but warns we still don't fully understand how much exposure is dangerous or exactly how it harms the body long-term. The takeaway: this is a real and growing concern worth watching, and better filtration technology and plastic-reduction policies could help limit our exposure while scientists work out the health risks.
Microplastic pollution is a major environmental problem affecting ecosystems, wildlife and people worldwide. Microplastics are solid synthetic polymer particles > 5 mm, insoluble in water and potentially containing functional additives and adsorbed chemical contaminants. They originate from bulk industrial products and from the degradation of large plastic debris (EFSA CONTAM Panel, in EFSA Journal 14, 2016). The extent of the contamination is critical, with global plastic production projected to exceed 1.2 billion metric tons per year by 2060 and an estimated 170 trillion plastic particles in the world's oceans at present. The globular morphology of microplastics provides them with the property of high physicochemical stability and a very high surface area to volume ratio. Thus, facilitating the adsorption of toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and persistent organic pollutants onto their surfaces and acting as mobile vectors of environmental toxicity. It reviews the microplastic bioaccumulation, ecological effects, and toxicological effects, including possible oncogenesis. There is evidence for the ingestion of microplastics by marine organisms, from plankton to highly trophic predators, which allows for trophic transfer and biomagnification through food chains, ultimately putting humans at risk through seafood consumption, with reported concentrations of 0.2-7 particles per gram wet weight in commercially important marine species. Microplastics have recently been identified as a key component of the human exposome and a potential risk factor for chronic diseases because of interaction effects with, among others, exosomal signals and genome stability. This review covers mitigation strategies including policy interventions such as the UN Global Plastics Treaty, biodegradable materials and bioremediation methods, biosurfactant-modified nanofiber filtration systems with removal efficiencies up to 99%, and artificial intelligence (AI)-derived environmental sensing technologies. However, there are significant knowledge gaps in rapid advances in dose-response relationship determination, generalizable nanoplastic detection methods, and long-term epidemiology that shows a cause-and-effect relationship between environmental exposure and clinical outcomes. This indicates a requirement for interdisciplinary expertise in dealing with microplastic hazards in marine ecology, toxicology, biomedical science, and environmental governance.
More Papers Like This
Microplastics in the aquatic environment and aquatic biological resources
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Tiny plastic bits called microplastics are showing up throughout our oceans, and this review pulls together existing research showing they're building up in fish and other sea life. Since we eat seafood, these plastics can move up the food chain and into our bodies, raising concerns about long-term health effects that scientists are still working to understand. The researchers stress that we need more studies and stronger action to cut plastic pollution before it causes bigger problems for both marine life and the people who depend on seafood for food.
Microplastics in Marine Ecosystems: A Serious Health Concern
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Tiny plastic bits called microplastics—smaller than a pencil eraser—have spread throughout our oceans and are now showing up in fish and seafood we eat. This review paper pulls together existing research showing these particles can carry harmful chemicals and may pose risks to both marine life and human health, though scientists are still working out exactly how much harm they cause. The takeaway: what we do with plastic waste on land doesn't stay on land—it ends up in the ocean and potentially on our dinner plates.
Microplastics: understanding the interaction with the food web and potential health hazards
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This review traces how microplastics move through aquatic food webs, from tiny filter-feeding organisms up to predatory fish, and ultimately to humans who consume seafood. Evidence indicates that microplastics can accumulate and concentrate at each level of the food chain, carrying toxic chemicals that may cause inflammation and hormone disruption. The authors stress the need for more research to understand these pathways and develop strategies to reduce microplastic contamination in food.
Impacts of Microplastic on Aquatic Environment
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This review pulls together existing research showing that tiny plastic particles (microplastics) from cities, wastewater, and runoff are building up in rivers, lakes, and oceans—and working their way up the food chain into fish and seafood we eat. Because these plastics can carry harmful chemicals and may cause cell damage, eating contaminated seafood is a real, though still not fully understood, way humans could be exposed to health risks. The authors call for more research and better monitoring to figure out just how much danger this poses and how to reduce it.
Mapping of microplastic toxicity: Uptake, trophic transfer, and ecotoxicological risks in marine ecosystems
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This review pulls together existing research showing that tiny plastic particles (microplastics) build up in ocean life, moving from small organisms all the way up to the fish we eat, causing stress, inflammation, and cell damage along the way. Since these particles can carry harmful chemicals with them, and seafood is a major route of exposure for people, the findings highlight a real need for better monitoring and policies to protect both marine life and human health.
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