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Immune–Epigenetic Effects of Environmental Pollutants: Mechanisms, Biomarkers, and Transgenerational Impact
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This review examines how environmental pollutants, including microplastics, heavy metals, and endocrine-disrupting chemicals, can alter immune function through epigenetic changes that modify gene expression without changing DNA itself. Researchers identified common molecular pathways through which these pollutants trigger inflammation and immune disruption. The study also highlights evidence that some of these epigenetic changes may be passed to future generations.
Environmental pollutants such as heavy metals, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, microplastics, and airborne particulates are increasingly recognized for their potential to influence immune function through epigenetic mechanisms. This review examines conserved pollutant-associated pathways at interfaces of immunity and epigenetics, with particular attention to Toll-like receptor-NF-κB signalling, NLRP3 inflammasome activity, and reactive oxygen species-driven cascades. Evidence from cellular, animal, and epidemiological studies indicates that these pathways may converge on chromatin regulators such as DNA methyltransferases, histone deacetylases, and EZH2, leading to DNA methylation shifts, histone modifications, and altered chromatin accessibility. Pollutants are also reported to modulate non-coding RNAs, including miR-21, miR-155, and several lncRNAs, which can act as intermediaries between cytokine signalling and epigenetic remodelling. Findings from transgenerational models suggest that pollutant-linked immune-epigenetic alterations might persist across generations, raising the possibility of long-term consequences for immune and neurodevelopmental health. Comparative analyses further indicate convergence across diverse pollutant classes, pointing to a shared mechanistic axis of immune-epigenetic disruption. Overall, these insights suggest that pollutant-induced immune-epigenetic signatures may contribute to inflammation, altered immune responses, and heritable disease risks, and their clarification could inform biomarker discovery and future precision approaches in immunotoxicology.
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Environmental Xenobiotics and Epigenetic Modifications: Implications for Human Health and Disease
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This review examines how environmental pollutants, including microplastics, can change gene activity through epigenetic modifications without altering DNA itself. These changes to how genes are turned on and off can contribute to cancer, brain diseases, and developmental problems, and may even be passed down to future generations. The research highlights that microplastics and other common pollutants could have long-lasting health effects that go beyond direct chemical toxicity.
Beyond genetics: can micro and nanoplastics induce epigenetic and gene-expression modifications?
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This review gathers existing research on whether micro and nanoplastics can cause epigenetic changes, which are modifications that alter how genes work without changing the DNA itself. Although studies are still limited, the evidence so far shows that both short-term and long-term plastic particle exposure can trigger these gene-level changes in various organisms. This is concerning because epigenetic changes can potentially be passed to future generations and may contribute to disease.
Molecular Mechanisms of Environmental Pollutants in Human Health for Unravelling the Pathophysiology of Chronic Diseases
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This review examined the integrated molecular mechanisms by which environmental pollutants—including heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, endocrine disruptors, and microplastics—contribute to chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative conditions. The authors found that multiple pollutant classes converge on oxidative stress, epigenetic modification, and inflammatory signaling as shared pathogenic pathways.
Pollution and the Genome: Genotoxic and Epigenetic Effects — Review
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This review summarizes existing research on how pollutants, including particulate matter, metals, PAHs, pesticides, and plasticizers like BPA and phthalates, can damage DNA or change how genes are read without altering DNA sequence. Evidence from human studies, cells, and animals was strongest for particulate matter, and exposure before birth to lead, BPA, or phthalates was linked to gene-reading changes lasting into childhood in humans and adulthood in mice.
Environmental influences on macrophage epigenetics and trained immunity: a review
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This review pulls together existing research showing that everyday exposures—like pollution, pesticides, certain chemicals, diet, and even stress—can leave lasting marks on immune cells called macrophages, essentially "training" them to overreact or underreact long after the initial exposure is gone. This matters because it suggests our environment may be quietly reprogramming our immune system in ways linked to chronic disease, though scientists still don't know much about newer concerns like microplastics or whether these changes can be passed to future generations. The takeaway: what we're exposed to may shape our immune health for years, making this an important area for future research and public health policy.
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