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The Toxicological Mechanisms of Microplastics in Aquatic and Mammalian Animals
Summary
This review compared the toxicological mechanisms by which microplastics cause harm in aquatic and mammalian animals, covering oxidative stress, inflammation, endocrine disruption, and gut microbiome alteration. The authors identify both shared mechanisms across animal groups and important differences in dose-response relationships.
Microplastics, as global environmental pollutants, have been widely distributed in water bodies, soil and the food chain. The ingestion of microplastics can induce a series of continuous toxicological effects in organisms. However, existing research mostly focuses on a single biological group and lacks a systematic summary of the commonalities and differences in toxicological mechanisms among different species. This review aims to summarize the toxicological pathways of microplastics in aquatic organisms and mammals, with a focus on discussing the similarities and differences in their toxicological effects ranging from oxidative stress, inflammatory responses to energy metabolism disorders. According to the research in this article, the overall process of toxicological effects of microplastics in different organisms has cross-species commonalities. However, aquatic organisms are more prone to acute, high-intensity, and irreversible tissue damage, while mammals show chronic, controllable inflammatory responses and systemic energy metabolism inhibition across organs. This review can provide an important reference for a deeper understanding of the toxicity of microplastics and for improving the health risk assessment system.
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