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Microplastic Toxicity to Humans
Summary
This review summarizes how microplastics enter the human body through eating, drinking, and breathing, and explores why they pose health risks through particle toxicity, the chemicals they carry, and the microbes they harbor. Because humans are at the top of the food chain, we accumulate microplastics from multiple sources, and the review warns that long-term accumulation in tissues may amplify their harmful effects.
In recent years, much research and discussion has revolved around microplastics (MPs), their nature, and their effects on humans. This chapter provides an overview of the literature on the toxic effects of MPs on humans. Due to MPs' small size, fragmentation, and quantity, adverse effects on humans are inevitable. Humans appear to be most vulnerable to MPs due to our position at the top of the food chain. Exposure to MPs can occur in various ways, such as inhalation, ingestion of dust, and daily intake of polluted food and water. The physicochemical properties of MP particles and chemical additives during their production affect their capacity to be retained by living organisms. The adverse effect of MPs may depend on many factors. MPs pose potential particle, chemical, and microbiological hazards: they can be toxic to humans through inhalation or ingestion. However, the greater threat is accumulation in the body, which increases their toxicity.