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Exposure to micro- and nano-plastics: From human internal burden to systems-level health-risk interpretation.

iMeta 2026
Chen Tu, Jie Yang, Jingyi Liao, Rongkui Hu, Yudong Feng, Di Wu, Yankai Xia, Dan Wang, Jinrong Tang, Xianzheng Yuan, Dong Zhu, Jing Wei, Li Xu, Mingkai Xu, Xuetao Guo, Jian Zhao, Qiqing Chen, Zhenming Zhang, Lianzhen Li, Yini Ma, Xiaoxu Jiang, Kai Zhang, Cheng Peng, Mengyao Li, Ning Shen, Willie J G M Peijnenburg, Matthias C Rillig, Jason C White, Yongming Luo, Ningwei Zhao

Summary

Tiny plastic particles — from things we breathe, eat, and touch every day — can get into our bodies and cause trouble at multiple levels, from irritating the body's protective barriers (like the gut lining) to stressing individual cells to potentially disrupting whole body systems over time. This review pulls together existing research to explain the biological chain reaction behind this damage, including cell stress and chronic inflammation, which are linked to diseases like heart problems and other long-term health issues. While more research is needed to know exactly how much risk everyday plastic exposure poses, this paper highlights why scientists are increasingly concerned about it.

Body Systems
Immune Respiratory

Micro- and nano-plastics (MNPs) can enter the human body through inhalation, ingestion, contact with consumer products, and iatrogenic routes. The clinical relevance of MNP exposure should be interpreted at three levels: barrier interaction, cellular stress, and system-level disruption, with key mechanisms including oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and chronic inflammation.

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