Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Enhanced hepatic metabolic perturbation of polystyrene nanoplastics by UV irradiation-induced hydroxyl radical generation

Researchers found that ultraviolet light exposure changes the surface properties of polystyrene nanoplastics, making them more toxic to mouse livers than untreated particles. The UV-altered nanoplastics caused greater disruption to liver metabolism, triggering increased oxidative stress and inflammatory responses. The study highlights that environmental weathering can make nanoplastics more harmful over time, which means laboratory studies using pristine particles may underestimate real-world health risks.

2023 Journal of Environmental Sciences 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Microcystins-Loaded Aged Nanoplastics Provoke a Metabolic Shift in Human Liver Cells

Researchers found that aged polystyrene nanoplastics can adsorb significantly more microcystin toxins than pristine nanoplastics, and the toxin-loaded particles caused greater harm to human liver cells. The combined exposure triggered metabolic energy disruption, oxidative damage, and stress in cellular machinery. The study suggests that environmentally weathered nanoplastics may pose amplified health risks by carrying higher loads of harmful waterborne toxins.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Photoaging of polystyrene microspheres causes oxidative alterations to surface physicochemistry and enhances airway epithelial toxicity

Researchers aged polystyrene microplastics with UV light and then tested their effects on human lung cells. They found that UV-weathered particles caused more pronounced biological responses than fresh ones, including cell cycle disruption, altered cell shape, and impaired wound healing. The study suggests that environmental aging of airborne microplastics may increase their potential to harm respiratory tissues.

2023 Toxicological Sciences 39 citations
Article Tier 2

Photoaged polystyrene nanoplastics exposure results in reproductive toxicity due to oxidative damage in Caenorhabditis elegans

Researchers exposed the roundworm C. elegans to polystyrene nanoplastics that had been aged by sunlight, simulating real-world environmental conditions. The study found that these weathered nanoplastics caused more severe reproductive harm than pristine particles, primarily through increased oxidative stress, suggesting that aging makes plastic particles more toxic to living organisms.

2024 Environmental Pollution 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Aged fragmented-polypropylene microplastics induced ageing statues-dependent bioenergetic imbalance and reductive stress: In vivo and liver organoids-based in vitro study

Researchers tested UV-aged polypropylene microplastics from everyday plastic cup lids on mice and lab-grown liver tissue, finding that more heavily aged particles caused greater liver damage. The aged microplastics disrupted energy production in liver cells and caused a harmful buildup of antioxidant molecules, suggesting that the weathered microplastics people encounter in daily life may be more toxic than pristine ones.

2024 Environment International 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Photoaging of polystyrene-based microplastics amplifies inflammatory response in macrophages

Researchers found that polystyrene microplastics aged by sunlight exposure for just three hours triggered stronger inflammatory responses and DNA damage in immune cells than fresh microplastics, even at very low concentrations. The aging process changed the particles' surface properties, making them more biologically reactive. Since most microplastics in the real world have been weathered by sunlight, this study suggests their actual health impact may be greater than lab studies using pristine particles indicate.

2024 Chemosphere 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Ultraviolet-induced photodegradation elevated the toxicity of polystyrene nanoplastics on human lung epithelial A549 cells

Researchers found that UV-induced photodegradation significantly increased the toxicity of polystyrene nanoplastics on human lung epithelial cells. The degraded nanoplastics caused greater cell death, stronger oxidative stress, more severe membrane damage, and intensive mitochondrial dysfunction compared to non-degraded particles, suggesting that weathered nanoplastics in the environment may pose greater health risks than pristine ones.

2021 Environmental Science Nano 50 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxicological assays and metabolomic profiling to evaluate the effects of virgin and aged micro- and nano- polystyrene plastics in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells

Human neuroblastoma cells exposed to polystyrene micro- and nanoplastics showed oxidative stress, DNA damage, and disrupted energy and amino acid metabolism, with aged and oxidized particles causing the worst effects. Since plastics in the environment are typically weathered rather than fresh, this suggests that real-world nanoplastic exposure may pose greater risks to brain cells than lab studies using pristine particles have indicated.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhancement of biological effects of oxidised nano- and microplastics in human professional phagocytes

Researchers studied how virgin and environmentally aged polystyrene nano- and microplastics affect human immune cells (monocytes and macrophages). The study found that oxidized particles, which simulate environmental aging, caused significantly greater DNA damage and oxidative stress than virgin particles, suggesting that weathered plastics in the environment may pose higher health risks.

2023 Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology 25 citations
Article Tier 2

UV-aged polystyrene nanoplastics aggravate intestinal barrier damage by overproduction of ROS

Researchers compared the intestinal effects of new versus UV-weathered polystyrene nanoplastics in mice and found that the aged particles caused significantly more damage to the gut lining. The weathered nanoplastics generated higher levels of reactive oxygen species, leading to greater oxidative damage and disruption of the intestinal barrier. The study suggests that nanoplastics that have been exposed to sunlight in the environment may pose greater health risks than freshly produced particles.

2024 Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmentally relevant UV-light weathering of polystyrene micro- and nanoplastics promotes hepatotoxicity in a human cell line

Researchers found that UV-weathered polystyrene micro- and nanoplastics at environmentally relevant concentrations induced hepatotoxicity in human liver cells and caused significant changes in gene expression related to liver disease pathways.

2023 Environmental Science Nano 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Unraveling the impacts of photolysis-induced aging microplastics on enhanced immunotoxicity and nephrotoxicity

Researchers compared the toxicity of pristine and sun-aged polyethylene and PET microplastics on kidney cells and immune cells and found that aged particles were up to 40 percent more toxic. The increased harm was attributed to environmentally persistent free radicals that form on plastic surfaces during UV exposure, which amplify oxidative stress inside cells. The study highlights that weathered microplastics in the real environment may pose greater health risks than the pristine particles typically used in laboratory studies.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Uptake of Breathable Nano- and Micro-Sized Polystyrene Particles: Comparison of Virgin and Oxidised nPS/mPS in Human Alveolar Cells

Researchers found that environmentally aged (oxidised) nano- and microplastics were rapidly taken up by human lung cells and caused significantly greater DNA damage, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial impairment compared to pristine particles, highlighting the heightened health risks of weathered airborne plastics.

2023 Preprints.org 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Aging Processes Dramatically Alter the Protein Corona Constitution, Cellular Internalization, and Cytotoxicity of Polystyrene Nanoplastics

Researchers found that aging processes such as UV and ozone exposure dramatically alter how polystyrene nanoplastics interact with blood plasma proteins, form protein coronas, and enter cells. The study suggests that environmentally aged nanoplastics may have different biological effects than pristine particles, which has important implications for accurately assessing the health risks of real-world nanoplastic exposure.

2022 Environmental Science & Technology Letters 45 citations
Article Tier 2

Adverse Effect of Polystyrene Nanoplastics in Impairing Glucose Metabolism in Liver Injury

Polystyrene nanoplastics disrupted glucose metabolism in liver cells by interfering with insulin signaling pathways and mitochondrial function, suggesting that nanoplastic exposure could contribute to metabolic disorders including insulin resistance.

2025 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Comparative Analysis of Metabolic Dysfunctions Associated with Pristine and Aged Polyethylene Microplastic Exposure via the Liver-Gut Axis in Mice

Mice fed both new and weathered polyethylene microplastics developed disrupted fat metabolism, liver oxidative stress, and shifts in gut bacteria, with weathered (aged) particles causing more severe effects. This study suggests that the microplastics people encounter in the real world, which have been degraded by sunlight and time, may be more harmful than the pristine particles typically used in lab studies.

2025 ACS Nano 10 citations
Article Tier 2

UVB-Aged Microplastics and Cellular Damage: An in Vitro Study

Researchers compared the cellular damage caused by UV-aged versus new microplastic particles using lab-grown human cells. They found that UV-aged microplastics caused significantly more DNA damage and oxidative stress than pristine particles, likely due to chemical changes on their surfaces during weathering. The findings suggest that environmentally weathered microplastics may pose greater health risks than freshly produced ones.

2024 Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Photoaging of polystyrene microspheres causes oxidative alterations to surface physicochemistry and enhances airway epithelial toxicity

Researchers photoaged polystyrene microspheres under ultraviolet radiation for five weeks and then compared their toxicity to pristine microspheres in A549 human lung cells. They found that UV aging increased polar surface groups on the particles and produced more pronounced oxidative stress, cell cycle arrest, and morphological changes than pristine microspheres, with toxicity further shaped by particle size, dose, and exposure duration.

2022 Research Square (Research Square) 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Bioenergetic effects of pristine and ultraviolet-weathered polydisperse polyethylene terephthalate and polystyrene nanoplastics on human intestinal Caco-2 cells

Researchers studied how pristine and UV-weathered nanoplastics made from PET and polystyrene affect the energy-producing functions of human intestinal cells. They found that weathered nanoplastics, which better represent what people actually encounter, caused measurable changes in cellular energy metabolism at concentrations relevant to real-world exposure. The study provides early evidence that nanoplastic exposure may interfere with how human gut cells generate energy.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Uptake of Breathable Nano- and Micro-Sized Polystyrene Particles: Comparison of Virgin and Oxidised nPS/mPS in Human Alveolar Cells

Researchers compared uptake of virgin and oxidized polystyrene nano- and microparticles in human lung cells, finding that photoaged particles showed altered surface chemistry and different cellular internalization patterns relevant to realistic airborne microplastic exposure.

2023 Toxics 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Integrated transcriptomics and metabolomics to explore the varied hepatic toxicity induced by aged- and pristine-microplastics: in vivo and human-originated liver organoids-based in vitro study

Using human liver organoids (miniature lab-grown livers), researchers found that sun-aged microplastics caused more damage to liver cells than fresh microplastics, even at concentrations matching what is found inside human bodies. The aged particles specifically disrupted energy production in mitochondria and altered an amino acid metabolism pathway linked to cardiovascular disease. This is significant because most microplastics in the environment have been weathered by sunlight, meaning the real health risk may be greater than studies using pristine plastics suggest.

2025 Environmental Research 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Photoaged Polystyrene Microplastics Accelerate Aging in Caenorhabditis elegans via Ferroptosis-Linked Insulin Signaling Pathway

Researchers found that photoaged polystyrene microplastics accelerated aging in the nematode C. elegans at environmentally relevant concentrations far more than fresh particles. The aged plastics generated more persistent free radicals and accumulated more readily in the organisms, triggering ferroptosis, a form of iron-dependent cell death, and disrupting insulin signaling pathways. The study suggests that environmental weathering makes microplastics substantially more harmful to biological aging processes.

2026 Environmental Science & Technology
Article Tier 2

Photo-transformation of microplastics and its toxicity to Caco-2 cells

Researchers studied how ultraviolet light transforms polystyrene microplastics and how these changes affect toxicity to human intestinal cells. They found that UV exposure roughened the particle surfaces and introduced oxygen-containing functional groups, and that these photo-transformed microplastics were significantly more toxic to Caco-2 cells than pristine particles. The study suggests that environmentally weathered microplastics may pose greater risks to the human digestive system than freshly produced ones.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 64 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhanced toxic effects of photoaged microplastics on the trophoblast cells

Researchers investigated how light-aged polystyrene microplastics affect placental function in pregnant mice and found that aged particles caused greater harm than pristine ones. Oral exposure to microplastics starting early in pregnancy impaired fetal growth and damaged the placental tissue layer. The enhanced toxicity of aged microplastics appears to be linked to changes in their physical properties and increased lipid peroxidation in trophoblast cells.

2025 Toxicology Letters 1 citations