Papers

61,005 results
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Systematic Review Tier 1

Impact of prenatal micro/nanoplastics exposure on intrauterine development and growth: a systematic review

This systematic review examines how exposure to micro- and nanoplastics during pregnancy may affect fetal development and growth. The research gathered evidence showing that tiny plastic particles can reach the placenta and potentially disrupt normal intrauterine development. While more research is needed, these findings raise important questions about protecting pregnant women from microplastic exposure through food, water, and air.

2026 Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
Article Tier 2

Impacts of micro- and nanoplastics on early-life health: a roadmap towards risk assessment

Researchers proposed a detailed risk assessment roadmap specifically for how micro- and nanoplastic exposure during pregnancy and early childhood could harm fetal and infant development, noting that these tiny particles have already been detected in human placentas. The framework identifies critical gaps in dosing data, detection methods, and placental transfer research needed before reliable safety conclusions can be drawn.

2024 Microplastics and Nanoplastics 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the Perinatal Period: Emerging Evidence on Maternal Exposure, Placental Transfer, and Fetal Health Outcomes

This review summarizes emerging evidence that microplastics can cross the placenta and reach developing babies, having been detected in maternal blood, placental tissue, amniotic fluid, cord blood, and breast milk. The tiny plastic particles may damage the placenta, disrupt hormones, alter immune responses, and potentially affect fetal growth and brain development. While more research is needed, the findings raise serious concerns about microplastic exposure during pregnancy and its implications for infant health.

2025 Sarvodaya International Journal of Medicine 7 citations
Article Tier 2

The Impact of Maternal Nanoplastic and Microplastic Particle Exposure on Mammal’s Offspring

This review summarizes research on how a mother's exposure to nanoplastics and microplastics during pregnancy can affect her developing baby. Studies show that these tiny plastic particles can cross the placenta and reach the fetus, potentially harming brain development, the reproductive system, metabolism, and the immune system of offspring. The review calls for more research using realistic exposure levels to better understand the risks of prenatal microplastic exposure to human babies.

2024 Cells 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Placental Exposure to Nanoplastics Threatening the Maternal and Fetal Health

This review examines how nanoplastics reaching the placenta threaten maternal and fetal health, summarizing evidence from animal and in vitro studies showing that placental nanoplastic accumulation disrupts nutrient transport, immune function, and fetal development.

2025 Health Dynamics
Systematic Review Tier 1

A Systematic Review of the Placental Translocation of Micro- and Nanoplastics

Nine out of eleven studies confirmed that micro- and nanoplastics can cross the placental barrier, with translocation depending on particle size, charge, chemical modification, and protein corona formation. Animal and in vitro studies showed emerging evidence of placental and fetal toxicity from plastic particle exposure.

2023 Current Environmental Health Reports 63 citations
Article Tier 2

The Invisible Threat: Microplastics in Human Blood and Placenta

This review summarized current evidence on microplastic detection in human blood and placenta, discussing what is known about how these particles enter the bloodstream and reach fetal tissue. The authors highlight the potential implications for maternal and fetal health.

2024 Journal of Drug Delivery and Therapeutics 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Bridging the Gaps between Microplastics and Human Health

This review synthesizes evidence on how humans are exposed to microplastics and nanoplastics through inhalation, ingestion, breastmilk, skin contact, and placental transfer, and surveys animal and in vitro studies showing that these particles can cross the placental barrier and disrupt fetal development. The authors highlight that nanoplastics — even smaller and more bioavailable than microplastics — remain severely understudied despite their likely greater toxicity. They call for large-scale epidemiological studies and standardized measurement methods to close the major gaps between what lab studies suggest and what we actually know about human health impacts.

2023 Preprints.org 2 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Microplastic Exposure During Pregnancy: A Systematic Review of Risks to Maternal and Fetal Health

This systematic review summarizes existing research on how microplastic exposure during pregnancy may affect mothers and developing babies. Studies suggest microplastics can cross the placental barrier, raising concerns about potential effects on fetal development, though more human research is needed to confirm specific risks.

2025 Eurasian Journal of Family Medicine
Article Tier 2

Microplastics: A threat to Fetoplacental unit and Reproductive systems

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics may harm the placenta and reproductive system, particularly during pregnancy. The authors highlight that these tiny plastic particles have been found in placental tissue and may interfere with fetal development, though they note that much more research is needed to understand the full risks to mothers and babies.

2025 Toxicology Reports 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessing microplastics as a novel threat to maternal-fetal health: Placental barrier penetration and fetal developmental consequences

This review addressed how microplastics cross the placental barrier and affect fetal development, covering cellular responses in placental tissue, animal model findings, and limited human study data. The authors concluded that transplacental microplastic transfer is a plausible mechanism for intergenerational health effects.

2025 Reproductive Toxicology
Article Tier 2

Microplastics: challenges of assessment in biological samples and their implication for in vitro and in vivo effects

This review examines the challenges of detecting and assessing microplastics in biological samples, noting that analytical limitations and lack of standardized methods hinder our understanding of health effects. The study highlights that humans are exposed to microplastics primarily through ingestion and inhalation, and that more long-term studies with standardized protocols are needed to understand the full scope of potential biological impacts.

2023 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 7 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Impact of Microplastics on Pregnancy and Fetal Development: A Systematic Review

A systematic review of 12 studies confirmed the presence of microplastics ranging from 2.1 to 100 micrometers in human placentas and fetal tissue. Microplastic levels correlated with reduced birthweight, affected gestational age, diminished microbiome diversity, and impaired fetal growth and development, with lifestyle choices influencing placental microplastic burden.

2024 Cureus 21 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Health Implications of Microplastic Exposure in Pregnancy and Early Childhood: A Systematic Review

This systematic review summarizes existing research on how microplastic exposure during pregnancy and early childhood may affect health. The evidence shows that microplastics can reach the placenta and may cause oxidative stress and inflammation, raising concerns about potential effects on fetal development and infant health during these vulnerable life stages.

2025 International Journal of Women s Health 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Breach of Security? Placental Uptake of Micro- and Nanoplastic Particles

This review examines emerging evidence for placental uptake of micro- and nanoplastic particles, exploring whether the placenta's barrier function can be breached by these contaminants during pregnancy. The review raises concerns about potential fetal exposure to plastic particles and the implications for developmental health.

2022 Environmental Health Perspectives 3 citations
Article Tier 2

A critical viewpoint on current issues, limitations, and future research needs on micro- and nanoplastic studies: From the detection to the toxicological assessment.

This critical review examines the current methods for detecting and characterizing micro- and nanoplastics in various environmental samples, as well as reported toxic effects from in vivo and in vitro studies. The authors found that while substantial effort has been made to understand microplastic behavior, the scientific community is still far from a complete understanding of how these particles behave in biological systems. The review calls for improved standardized protocols and more studies focused on uptake kinetics, accumulation, and biodistribution.

2019 Environmental Research 163 citations
Article Tier 2

Getting a grip on microplastics’ risks

This review examines the current state of microplastic risk assessment, noting that tiny plastic particles have been detected in water, food, air, human blood, lung tissue, and stool, yet their risks to human health and the environment remain unclear. The authors draw parallels with challenges faced in nanotoxicology and discuss how lessons from that field could improve methods for studying microplastic toxicity and exposure.

2022 C&EN Global Enterprise 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Biological interactions between nanomaterials and placental development and function following oral exposure

Researchers reviewed animal studies on orally ingested nanomaterials (including nanoplastics) and found that while the placenta is generally an effective barrier preventing fetal transfer, nanomaterials accumulating in placental tissue can impair placental development and function, with potential downstream effects on fetal health.

2019 Reproductive Toxicology 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and nanoplastics: Exposure and toxicological effects require important analysis considerations

This review highlights that while microplastics and nanoplastics have been found in human tissues and linked to several diseases, the actual toxic effects are still unclear because researchers use very different methods to study them. The authors call for standardized testing approaches so that results can be compared reliably, which is critical for determining what levels of exposure actually pose a risk to human health.

2024 Heliyon 29 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics/nanoplastics and neurological health: An overview of neurological defects and mechanisms

This review summarizes evidence that micro and nanoplastics can harm the nervous system, causing developmental abnormalities, brain cell death, neurological inflammation, and potentially contributing to neurodegenerative diseases. Animal studies show that these tiny plastics can cross the blood-brain barrier and accumulate in brain tissue, where they trigger oxidative stress and disrupt normal brain function. While direct evidence in humans is still limited, the findings suggest that chronic microplastic exposure could be a risk factor for neurological health problems.

2024 Toxicology 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Health impacts and detection challenges of human exposure to microplastics

This review examined the health impacts of human exposure to microplastics and nanoplastics through ingestion, inhalation, and skin absorption. Researchers found that these tiny particles pose significant health risks due to their ability to carry toxic contaminants and interact with biological tissues. The study also highlights major challenges in accurately detecting and measuring microplastic exposure in humans, which limits our understanding of the full scope of health effects.

2025 Cancer Plus 4 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Exposure to micro- and nanoplastics and human reproductive outcomes: a systematic review

This systematic review summarizes existing research on whether micro and nanoplastics affect human fertility and pregnancy outcomes. While the evidence is still emerging, the review found that these particles have been detected in placenta and fetal tissue, raising important questions about potential effects on reproductive health that warrant further study.

2023 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro- and nanoplastic inhalation during pregnancy: Impacts on uteroplacental function and offspring health

This review examined evidence that inhaled micro- and nanoplastics during pregnancy accumulate in placental and fetal tissues, impair uteroplacental blood flow and immune function, and are associated with adverse developmental outcomes in offspring, identifying inhalation as a critical but understudied exposure route.

2025 Rutgers University Community Repository (Rutgers University)
Article Tier 2

Fetus Exposure to Drugs and Chemicals: A Holistic Overview on the Assessment of Their Transport and Metabolism across the Human Placental Barrier

This review examines the various experimental methods used to study how drugs and chemicals cross the placental barrier and reach the developing fetus. Understanding how contaminants including microplastics can pass from mother to baby is essential for protecting fetal health and developing safer guidelines for chemical exposure during pregnancy.

2024 Diseases 26 citations