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Health risk of human exposure to microplastics: a review
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Researchers reviewed the human health risks of microplastic exposure across multiple organ systems, finding evidence that these particles trigger oxidative stress, disrupt gut microbiota, impair liver and cardiovascular function, suppress immunity, and — through leached additives like phthalates — act as endocrine disruptors with synergistic effects when combined with co-occurring environmental pollutants.
Microplastics are emerging contaminants that have been detected recently in most environmental and biological systems, yet their health risk for humans has not been clearly summarized. Here we review human health risk associated with exposure to microplastics with focus on methods of exposure assessment, hazard identification, dose–response assessment, exposure assessment, and risk characterization. Hazards include direct hazards, hazards from contaminants released by microplastics, and hazards from microplastic interactions with surrounding contaminants. Microplastics trigger oxidative stress, disrupt metabolism, interfere with gut microflora and gastrointestinal functions, disrupt hepatic, cardiopulmonary and immune systems, and degrade reproductive health. Some additives leached from microplastics such as phthalates are endocrine disruptors and thus impact reproductive health. The interaction of microplastics with other pollutants in the environment induces varied hazards following synergistic or antagonistic effects.
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Researchers reviewed the major sources of environmental microplastic pollution — dominated by textiles, tires, and urban dust — and catalogued the primary human exposure routes via food, inhalation, and skin contact, noting that airborne MPs are an underestimated risk because fine particles can bypass respiratory defenses and penetrate deep into the lungs.
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This review synthesizes two decades of research on microplastic exposure and health effects, reporting an estimated human intake of 39,000–52,000 particles per year and documenting microplastic detection across numerous tissues including lung, blood, placenta, and testis, while highlighting persistent data gaps in understanding downstream biological impacts.
Hazards of microplastics on human health and its mitigation strategies
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Researchers reviewed how humans are exposed to microplastics through eating, breathing, and skin contact, finding that lab studies link microplastic exposure to oxidative stress, inflammation, and DNA damage, though the long-term health effects in humans remain poorly understood and need further study.
Human Exposure to Dietary Microplastics and Health Risk: A Comprehensive Review
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This comprehensive review examines human dietary exposure to microplastics through bottled water, seafood, packaged foods, and crops grown in plastic-mulched soils, cataloging toxicity mechanisms including immune disruption, gastrointestinal damage, and developmental cytotoxicity, with MPs shown to transfer via placenta and breast milk. The multi-pathway exposure evidence reviewed here highlights that microplastic ingestion is a universal human experience beginning before birth, with plausible health consequences that demand urgent investment in mechanistic in vivo research.
Human Health Impacts of Microplastics Pollution
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Researchers examined what is known about how microplastics move through the human body after ingestion, noting that while absorption and tissue distribution have been partially characterized, fundamental gaps remain in understanding how microplastics are metabolized and eliminated.
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