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Papers
3,142 resultsBirds as Bioindicators: Revealing the Widespread Impact of Microplastics
This systematic review found microplastics in over 200 bird species across the globe, from Antarctica to South Europe. Birds can suffer gut damage, oxidative stress, and toxic chemical buildup from ingesting plastics — a warning sign for broader ecosystem and food chain contamination that could affect humans too.
Effects of Microplastic Exposure on Human Digestive, Reproductive, and Respiratory Health: A Rapid Systematic Review
This systematic review examined studies on how microplastic exposure affects human digestive, reproductive, and respiratory health. Early evidence suggests links to gut inflammation, reproductive issues, and lung irritation, though the review notes that more high-quality human studies are urgently needed.
Assessing the Impact of Nanoplastics in Biological Systems: Systematic Review of In Vitro Animal Studies
This systematic review of lab studies found that nanoplastics can damage cells in the gut, lungs, liver, brain, and reproductive organs of animals. These ultra-small plastic particles appear capable of crossing biological barriers and causing inflammation and oxidative stress, raising concerns about similar effects in humans.
Polylactic Acid Micro/Nanoplastic Exposure Induces Male Reproductive Toxicity by Disrupting Spermatogenesis and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Mice
Even so-called "eco-friendly" biodegradable plastic (polylactic acid, or PLA) was found to cause reproductive harm in male mice. After breaking down in the digestive system, tiny PLA nanoparticles crossed into the testes and damaged sperm quality, mitochondria (the energy producers in cells), and hormone levels. This challenges the assumption that biodegradable plastics are safe and highlights potential risks to male fertility.
Adsorption of Emerging Contaminants on Microplastics in the Environment: A Systematic Review
This systematic review found that microplastics can absorb and carry other harmful chemicals — like pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and heavy metals — through the environment. This "hitchhiker effect" means microplastics may deliver concentrated doses of toxic substances to organisms and potentially to humans.
Causal relationship between gut microbiota and gastrointestinal diseases: a mendelian randomization study
This Mendelian randomization study found genetic evidence supporting a causal relationship between specific gut microbiota compositions and gastrointestinal diseases. The findings suggest that microbiome-related interventions, including microbiome-dependent metabolites, could potentially be developed to treat or manage gastrointestinal conditions.
Tissue accumulation of microplastics and potential health risks in human
Researchers analyzed human tissues and found microplastics in every sample tested, with lungs containing the highest concentration at about 14 particles per gram, followed by the small intestine, large intestine, and tonsils. PVC was the most common plastic type found, and women had significantly more microplastic particles than men, raising concerns about long-term health effects.
The potential impact of nano- and microplastics on human health: Understanding human health risks.
This review summarizes how nano- and microplastics enter the human body through breathing, eating, drinking, and skin contact, and then accumulate in organs over time. Studies have linked this buildup to respiratory problems like asthma and lung cancer, gut inflammation, disrupted gut bacteria, and neurological symptoms. At the cellular level, plastics cause DNA damage and cell death, though more research is needed to fully understand the long-term health risks in humans.
Polystyrene nanoplastics promote colitis-associated cancer by disrupting lipid metabolism and inducing DNA damage
In a mouse study, polystyrene nanoplastics accelerated the development of colon cancer linked to inflammatory bowel disease by disrupting fat metabolism and causing DNA damage in intestinal cells. The nanoplastics also altered gut bacteria and increased intestinal inflammation, suggesting that plastic particle exposure could worsen outcomes for people already at risk for colon cancer.
Incorporation of polylactic acid microplastics into the carbon cycle as a carbon source to remodel the endogenous metabolism of the gut
Researchers discovered that gut bacteria can break down so-called biodegradable PLA microplastics and incorporate the carbon into their own metabolism, fundamentally altering the gut's energy balance. This process reduced beneficial short-chain fatty acids that fuel gut lining cells and caused decreased appetite and weight loss in mice, suggesting that biodegradable plastics may not be as harmless inside the body as assumed.
Microplastics as an emerging threat to human health: An overview of potential health impacts
This review provides a broad overview of how microplastics enter the body through food, air, and skin contact, and have been found in human tissues including the placenta, blood, lungs, and reproductive organs. Children face especially high risk due to hand-to-mouth behaviors and faster breathing rates relative to their body size, making them more susceptible to microplastic exposure and its potential toxic effects.
Exploring the ecotoxicological impacts of microplastics on freshwater fish: A critical review
This review examines how microplastics affect freshwater fish, which often mistake the tiny particles for food. Once ingested, microplastics do not stay in the gut -- they enter the bloodstream and spread to the gills, liver, brain, heart, and reproductive organs, causing hormonal, immune, neurological, and reproductive problems. Because microplastics build up in the food chain, the contamination of fish has broader implications for other animals and for people who eat freshwater fish.
Rapid egestion of microplastics in juvenile barramundi: No evidence of gut retention or tissue translocation
This study found that juvenile barramundi fish rapidly egest (pass) microplastics through their digestive system with no evidence of the particles moving into surrounding tissues. The results suggest that for larger microplastic particles, the gut may act as an effective barrier in fish, though this does not eliminate concerns about smaller nanoplastics or chemical leaching.
Microplastics in our diet: A growing concern for human health
Microplastics smaller than 5 millimeters are entering our food through drinking water, salt, seafood, packaged food, and even alcoholic beverages. Once consumed, these particles have been detected in human blood, feces, breast milk, liver, and other tissues, showing they can accumulate throughout the body. Emerging evidence links microplastic exposure to inflammation, oxidative stress, gut problems, brain effects, reproductive harm, and cardiovascular risks.
A Systematic Review of the Toxicokinetics of Micro- and Nanoplastics in Mammals Following Digestive Exposure
This systematic review summarizes existing research on what happens to micro and nanoplastics after mammals ingest them through food and water. The evidence shows these particles can survive digestion and potentially cross into tissues and organs, raising important questions about long-term health effects from the microplastics we unknowingly consume every day.
Mechanisms of microplastics on gastrointestinal injury and liver metabolism disorder (Review)
This review summarizes how microplastics and nanoplastics can damage the gastrointestinal tract and disrupt liver metabolism when they enter the human body. The particles trigger oxidative stress, inflammation, and cell death in gut tissues, and can interfere with how the liver processes glucose and fats. As plastics continue to break down into ever-smaller particles, the potential for harm increases because nanoplastics can penetrate cells more easily.
Combined toxicity of polystyrene microplastics and perfluorobutane sulfonate on mouse liver: Impact on lipid metabolism and gut-liver axis disruption
This study examined what happens when mice are exposed to both polystyrene microplastics and PFBS (a type of "forever chemical") at the same time. The combination caused significantly worse liver damage than either pollutant alone, disrupting fat metabolism and triggering gut bacteria imbalances that further harmed the liver through the gut-liver connection. These findings are concerning because microplastics can absorb PFAS chemicals in the environment, meaning people may often be exposed to both together.
First incidence of microplastic in commercially important food fishes and waters: A case study in the dal Lake ecosystem of North-Western Himalaya (India)
Researchers found microplastics for the first time in commercially important fish and water from Dal Lake in India's Himalayas, with water containing about 197 particles per liter and fish harboring up to 22 particles each. Polyethylene was the most common plastic type found, and the presence of microplastics in food fish indicates these particles are moving up the food chain toward human consumers.
Exploring toxicological pathways of microplastics and nanoplastics: Insights from animal and cellular models
This review examines what animal and cell studies have revealed about how microplastics and nanoplastics cause harm at the molecular level, including promoting inflammation, oxidative stress, and cell death. Most research has focused on reproductive toxicity and polystyrene particles, while effects on the gut, brain, and heart remain understudied. The authors note that many experiments use unrealistic concentrations and synthetic particles, making it difficult to apply the results to real-world human exposure.
Impact of Microplastics on Human Health: Risks, Diseases, and Affected Body Systems
This review summarizes how microplastics made of polystyrene, polypropylene, and polyethylene affect multiple body systems, causing inflammation in the lungs and gut, weakening immune function, and increasing risks of cardiovascular disease and brain toxicity. These particles also disrupt hormones, which may lead to reproductive problems and elevated cancer risk, underscoring the need for stronger regulations on plastic materials.
Mechanistic insight into potential toxic effects of microplastics and nanoplastics on human health
This review summarizes how microplastics and nanoplastics enter the body through breathing, eating, and skin contact, then travel through the bloodstream to deposit in organs. Studies show they can cause oxidative stress, inflammation, immune dysfunction, genetic damage, developmental abnormalities, and potentially cancer, though most evidence comes from cell and animal studies rather than human research.
‘Plasticosis’: Characterising macro- and microplastic-associated fibrosis in seabird tissues
Researchers examined 30 young seabirds and found that ingested plastic caused widespread scarring and tissue damage in their stomachs -- damage so severe and distinctive that the authors proposed a new disease called 'Plasticosis.' Naturally occurring materials like pumice did not cause similar scarring, highlighting the unique harmful properties of plastic and raising concerns about similar tissue damage in other species exposed to plastic pollution.
Microplastic sources, formation, toxicity and remediation: a review
This review covers where microplastics come from, how they form, and their toxic effects on humans, noting that microplastics have been found in blood, stool, sputum, saliva, and placenta. The paper links microplastic exposure to cancer, intestinal disease, cardiovascular problems, and inflammatory conditions, and describes cleanup methods including filtration, adsorption, and photocatalytic degradation.
A critical review of the adsorption-desorption characteristics of antibiotics on microplastics and their combined toxic effects
This systematic review examines how microplastics absorb and release antibiotics in the environment, and the combined toxic effects of this interaction. When microplastics carrying antibiotics are ingested by living organisms, they may promote antibiotic resistance and cause greater harm than either pollutant alone, which is a growing concern for human health.