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Nanoplastics and Microplastics May Be Damaging Our Livers
Summary
This systematic review summarizes research on how micro- and nanoplastics may damage the liver. Since the liver is the body's main detoxification organ, it plays a key role in processing plastic particles that enter the body through food, water, and air, and the evidence suggests these particles can cause inflammation, oxidative stress, and other liver problems.
Plastics in the environment can be degraded and even broken into pieces under the action of natural factors, and the degraded products with a particle size of less than 5 mm are called microplastics (MPs). MPs exist in a variety of environmental media that come into contact with the human body. It can enter the body through environmental media and food chains. At present, there are many studies investigating the damage of MPs to marine organisms and mammals. The liver is the largest metabolizing organ and plays an important role in the metabolism of MPs in the body. However, there is no available systematic review on the toxic effects of MPs on the liver. This paper summarizes the adverse effects and mechanisms of MPs on the liver, by searching the literature and highlighting the studies that have been published to date, and provides a scenario for the liver toxicity caused by MPs.
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