Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics as an Invisible Threat to Humans and the Environment

This review summarized the adverse effects of nanoplastics on human health and the environment, noting that plastic fragmentation in the environment creates these tiny particles that are becoming ubiquitous pollutants. The study suggests that reducing plastic disposal, improving detection methods, and implementing regulations on nanoplastics in consumer products are needed to address this growing concern.

2022 Journal of Nanomaterials 44 citations
Article Tier 2

Towards a risk assessment framework for micro- and nanoplastic particles for human health

This review proposes a framework for assessing the health risks of micro- and nanoplastics to humans, noting that current methods are inadequate because these particles come in countless types, sizes, and chemical compositions. The authors recommend focusing first on inhalation risks and suggest using existing approaches for evaluating low-toxicity particles and fibers as a starting point for plastic particle safety standards.

2024 Particle and Fibre Toxicology 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Critical gaps in nanoplastics research and their connection to risk assessment

This paper identifies critical knowledge gaps in nanoplastics research and explains why they matter for assessing health and environmental risks. Nanoplastics are harder to detect and measure than larger microplastics, meaning current pollution estimates likely undercount total plastic contamination. The authors call for better detection methods and standardized research approaches to understand the true scope of nanoplastic exposure.

2023 Frontiers in Toxicology 56 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

Micro- and nanoplastics: a global threat to health and the environment

This global review assesses the evidence for micro- and nanoplastics as threats to both environmental and human health, covering contamination of air, food, and water, and discussing the challenges of risk assessment given incomplete toxicological data.

2025 Environmental Research and Ecotoxicity
Article Tier 2

Micro and nano-plastics, a threat to human health?

This review examines the threat micro- and nanoplastics pose to human health, discussing how these persistent particles accumulate in organs including lungs, the gastrointestinal system, and blood, and how their chemical composition and size influence toxicity.

2022 PubMed 38 citations
Review Tier 2

Knowledge gaps on micro and nanoplastics and human health: A critical review

This critical review assessed current evidence on micro- and nanoplastic exposure and human health, concluding that while humans are ubiquitously exposed via food, water, and air, the long-term health effects of chronic low-level exposure remain poorly understood.

2021 Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering 41 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics on the Planet: Current Knowledge and Challenges

This review summarizes the current state of microplastic research worldwide, noting that while detection methods have improved, measuring nano-sized plastic particles remains a major challenge. There are still no established safety thresholds for human exposure to microplastics, and the scientific community urgently needs to develop these standards to properly assess the health risks people face.

2024 Environmental Science & Technology Letters 26 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

Chemical Analysis of Microplastics and Nanoplastics: Challenges, Advanced Methods, and Perspectives

This review covers the latest laboratory methods for detecting and measuring microplastics and nanoplastics in environmental samples like water, food, and air. Identifying these tiny particles is extremely challenging because they vary enormously in size, shape, and plastic type, and concentrations can differ by billions of times between samples. Better standardized detection methods are essential for accurately understanding how much microplastic humans are actually exposed to.

2021 Chemical Reviews 927 citations
Article Tier 2

Challenges and Recent Analytical Advances in Micro/Nanoplastic Detection

This review covers the challenges scientists face in detecting and measuring micro- and nanoplastics in the environment, especially for particles smaller than one micrometer. Current analytical methods have significant limitations for identifying nanoplastics due to their extremely small size and diverse chemical compositions. Improving detection technology is essential for accurately assessing how much microplastic contamination exists in water, food, and human tissues.

2024 Analytical Chemistry 41 citations
Article Tier 2

Methodologies to characterize, identify and quantify nano- and sub-micron sized plastics in relevant media for human exposure: a critical review

This review critically evaluated methodologies for characterizing, identifying, and quantifying nano- and sub-micron sized plastics in media relevant to human exposure, highlighting analytical gaps and the need for standardized approaches.

2022 Environmental Science Advances 27 citations
Article Tier 2

How problems with microplastics in research and application can be overcome

This methodological review addressed common problems in micro- and nanoplastic research, including challenges in hazard identification, exposure assessment, and risk characterization arising from the complex mixture nature of MNPs. The authors proposed practical solutions and standardization approaches to improve the reliability of microplastic risk assessments.

2025 Repository of the University of Ljubljana (University of Ljubljana)
Article Tier 2

Effects of Nanoplastics on Human Health: A Comprehensive Study

This comprehensive review examines the diverse health effects of nanoplastics, drawing on toxicology, environmental science, and epidemiology to document how these particles interact with human biological systems. The authors conclude that nanoplastics represent a growing public health concern requiring further investigation.

2024 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology (IJISRT) 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro- and Nano-Plastics Contaminants in the Environment: Sources, Fate, Toxicity, Detection, Remediation, and Sustainable Perspectives

This review provides a broad overview of micro- and nanoplastic pollution, covering where these particles come from, how they spread through the environment, and the damage they cause to living things including humans. The authors also compare different methods for removing microplastics from the environment, including physical, chemical, and biological approaches. The paper calls for more research and global cooperation to develop better tools for measuring the health risks of plastic pollution.

2023 Water 31 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

Challenges and Advances in Analytical Techniques to Detect Micro- and Nanoplastics

This research review summarizes the current methods scientists use to detect and study microplastics and nanoplastics - tiny plastic particles that can get into our environment, food, and bodies. The authors explain that identifying these extremely small plastic pieces is very challenging and requires advanced laboratory techniques to understand what types of plastics they are and how much is present. Better detection methods are important because we need to understand how much plastic pollution we're exposed to and its potential effects on human health.

2026
Article Tier 2

Microplastics: A Multidimensional Threat to Environment, Economy, and Public Health

Researchers reviewed the full scope of microplastic contamination — particles smaller than 5 mm — across oceans, soils, air, and the human body, documenting how they disrupt ecosystems and carry toxic chemicals. The review calls for global policy coordination, better detection standards, and materials innovation to address what has become a worldwide pollution crisis.

2025 Healthcraft Frontiers
Article Tier 2

Micro/nano-plastics occurrence, identification, risk analysis and mitigation: challenges and perspectives

This review provides a comprehensive overview of micro- and nanoplastic pollution, covering their sources, occurrence in different environments, identification methods, and potential risks to ecosystems and human health. Researchers examined current analytical techniques and found significant gaps in the ability to detect and quantify the smallest plastic particles. The study outlines mitigation strategies including improved waste management, advanced filtration, and biodegradable alternatives.

2022 Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology 233 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as an emerging threat to human health: Challenges and advancements in their detection

This review examined microplastics as an emerging threat to human health, highlighting their endocrine-disrupting properties, ability to accumulate pollutants, and the analytical challenges in accurately detecting and characterizing them across environmental and biological samples.

2023 Applied Chemical Engineering 6 citations
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
Article Tier 2

Microplastics: Environmental Occurrence and Analytical Challenges

This comprehensive literature review examines how microplastics — plastic particles between 1 micrometer and 5 mm — enter and move through ecosystems, and what analytical methods are used to detect them. Despite being found throughout the world, the environmental consequences and toxic effects of microplastics on living organisms are still not fully understood.

2022 Figshare 9 citations
Article Tier 2

The environmental journey of micro- and nanoplastics: fate, transport, and toxicity

This review traces the journey of micro- and nanoplastics through the environment, from their sources in textiles and personal care products to their transport through water and soil systems. The authors highlight major gaps in knowledge, including the lack of standardized detection methods for the smallest particles and insufficient long-term data on human health effects. The review calls for better risk assessment to protect food safety and human health from microplastic contamination.

2026 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic contamination: a human health concern and an analytical challenge

This review examined how microplastics (5 mm–0.1 μm) and nanoplastics (down to 1 nm) contaminate food, water, and air, summarizing harmful effects on marine and terrestrial ecosystems and discussing analytical challenges in detecting and quantifying these particles in environmental and food matrices.

2025 UniTERAMO Research Catalog (University of Teramo)