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Global disparities and climatic-economic drivers of micro/nanoplastic accumulation in animals and humans
Summary
This review of over 200 studies found that animals with the highest microplastic and nanoplastic body burdens are concentrated in North America, Germany, and Spain, and identified climatic and economic factors — particularly higher temperatures and industrialization — as key drivers of accumulation patterns globally.
With the ongoing global warming and economic development, micro/nanoplastics (MPs/NPs) have become widespread in the environment and food chain, posing potential health risk to animals and humans. However, a comprehensive understanding of their distribution in animals worldwide and the potential influence of climate and economic factors remains lacking. In this review, we analyze over 200 studies published between 2010 and 2024, systematically summarizing the occurrence of MPs/NPs in various animal tissues across different regions and habitats, as well as patterns of human exposure. Results show that animals with high levels of MPs/NPs are distributed in North America, Germany, and Spain, and the content of MPs/NPs varies by up to 375 times between different regions of the same species. Moreover, the abundance of MPs/NPs in fish and shellfish shows a decreasing trend with increasing latitude. The most popular polymer types, morphologies and colors of MPs/NPs in animals are polyethylene (PE), fiber and black, respectively. Random forest analysis indicates that high temperature is the most influential factor affecting the occurrence of MPs/NPs in animals (31.55 %), while gross domestic product (GDP) has the greatest impact on the occurrence of MPs/NPs in humans (46.13 %). This review offers a global perspective on MPs/NPs contamination in animals and humans, improving ecological risk assessment based on temperature, human activity intensity, and economic level.