We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
[Environmental pollutants and Alzheimer's disease].
Summary
This review examines how common environmental pollutants — including heavy metals, pesticides, and microplastics — contribute to Alzheimer's disease risk by damaging neurons, triggering inflammation, and promoting the hallmark protein buildups (amyloid-beta and tau) seen in the disease. Microplastics are identified as an emerging neurotoxic pollutant alongside more established chemicals. The evidence adds to growing concern that everyday environmental exposures, not just genetics, play a meaningful role in driving dementia.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive cognitive impairment. The main hypotheses about the pathogenesis of AD include the hypothesis of β-amyloid protein, the hypothesis of abnormal phosphorylation of Tau protein, and the hypothesis of neuroinflammation. In recent years, environmental pollutants have been considered as an important factor in causing neurological dysfunction. Common environmental pollutants include heavy metals, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, microplastics, and air pollutants, all of which have been proven to have neurotoxicity. In this review, we not only discussed epidemiological and animal experimental studies that link environmental pollution with AD, but also summarized the mechanisms of action of relevant toxins, providing insights for studying the interrelationships between environmental pollutants and AD.