Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Recent advances in toxicological research of nanoplastics in the environment: A review

Researchers systematically reviewed nanoplastic toxicology, finding that surface charge and particle size are the dominant determinants of harm — positively charged and smaller particles penetrate cell membranes more readily — and that adsorbed contaminants released inside organisms often pose greater toxicological risks than the nanoplastic particles themselves.

2019 Environmental Pollution 652 citations
Article Tier 2

Research progress on the cellular toxicity caused by microplastics and nanoplastics

This review summarizes current research on how microplastics and nanoplastics cause damage at the cellular level. Researchers identified four main ways these particles harm cells: triggering oxidative stress, damaging cell membranes and organelles, causing inflammation, and disrupting DNA. The findings highlight growing evidence that plastic particles small enough to enter cells can interfere with fundamental biological processes.

2023 Journal of Applied Toxicology 50 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro/nanoplastics and human health: A review of the evidence, consequences, and toxicity assessment

This review summarizes evidence that micro and nanoplastics have been found in multiple human organs and body fluids, where they can alter cell shape, damage mitochondria, reduce cell survival, and cause oxidative stress. The health effects depend heavily on the size, shape, and chemical makeup of the particles, with smaller nanoplastics generally posing the greatest risk because they penetrate deeper into tissues. The review provides a framework for assessing how dangerous different types of plastic particles are to human health.

2025 Food and Chemical Toxicology 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Structural parameters of nanoparticles affecting their toxicity for biomedical applications: a review

Researchers reviewed how the physical and chemical properties of nanoparticles — including size, shape, surface charge, and material type — influence their toxicity in living cells and tissues, with relevance to both medical applications and environmental exposures like nanoplastics. Smaller particles are generally more toxic because they have greater surface area and can more easily penetrate cell membranes and trigger oxidative stress.

2023 Journal of Nanoparticle Research 521 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro- and nanoplastic induced cellular toxicity in mammals: A review

This review examines research on how micro- and nanoplastics cause cellular damage in mammalian systems, covering both laboratory and animal studies. Evidence indicates that these particles can trigger oxidative stress, inflammation, and DNA damage in cells, with smaller nanoplastics generally showing greater toxicity due to their ability to penetrate cell membranes more readily.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 449 citations
Article Tier 2

Bioeffects of Nanoplastics: DNA Damage and Mechanism

This review examines how nanoplastics, plastic particles smaller than one micrometer, can damage DNA in cells. The authors explain that nanoplastics may cause genetic damage through oxidative stress, inflammation, and direct interference with cellular processes, which raises concerns about potential long-term health effects including cancer risk.

2025 Nano Letters 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Current Insights into Potential Effects of Micro-Nanoplastics on Human Health by in-vitro Tests

This review summarizes current evidence on how micro- and nanoplastics may affect human health, based on in-vitro laboratory studies. The research indicates that these tiny plastic particles can cause oxidative stress and inflammatory responses in human cells, and that their effects vary depending on size, shape, polymer type, and chemical additives present.

2021 Frontiers in Toxicology 68 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Genotoxicity and Genomic Instability Induced by Micro- and Nanoplastics: A Comprehensive Multi-Taxa Mechanistic Review.

This review of existing research found that tiny plastic particles (microplastics and nanoplastics) can damage DNA in many different living things, from fish to human cells. The plastic particles cause this damage by creating harmful molecules called free radicals, disrupting the body's ability to repair DNA, and triggering inflammation. These findings suggest that the growing amount of plastic pollution in our environment could pose serious health risks to humans and wildlife.

2026 PubMed
Article Tier 2

Efectos Celulares De La Exposición a Micropartículas Plásticas En Organismos Acuáticos

This review examines cellular effects of microplastic and nanoplastic exposure in aquatic organisms, synthesizing laboratory evidence that plastics alone or combined with other toxicants cause membrane lysis, mitochondrial damage, reactive oxygen species generation, genotoxicity, and apoptosis.

2022 Kuxulkab
Article Tier 2

Health impacts of micro- and nanoplastics: key influencing factors, limitations, and future perspectives

This review systematically analyzed how the physicochemical properties of micro- and nanoplastics — including size, shape, surface charge, and polymer type — determine their toxicological impacts across biological systems. The authors argue that property-based frameworks are essential for predicting MNP health risks and designing relevant research.

2025 Archives of Toxicology
Article Tier 2

Toxicity Induced by Micro-and Nanoplastics through Oxidative Stress: The Role of Co-Exposure to Other Chemical Pollutants

This review examined how micro- and nanoplastics cause oxidative stress — a form of cellular damage — in living organisms, particularly when combined with other chemical pollutants in the environment. Co-exposure to microplastics and chemicals like pesticides or heavy metals tends to be more damaging than either pollutant alone.

2021 International Journal of Zoology and Animal Biology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Unveiling the toxicity of micro-nanoplastics: A systematic exploration of understanding environmental and health implications

This review summarizes what is known about the toxicity of micro- and nanoplastics, noting they can cross critical barriers in the body including the blood-brain barrier. Studies in lab animals show these particles can cause DNA damage, oxidative stress, and cell death, with potential effects on the brain, heart, lungs, and skin, underscoring the need for more real-world human studies.

2024 Toxicology Reports 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Cellular interactions with polystyrene nanoplastics—The role of particle size and protein corona

Researchers investigated how polystyrene nanoplastics interact with mammalian cells, finding that particle size and the protein corona that forms around particles in biological fluids strongly influence cellular uptake and toxicity. Smaller nanoplastics penetrated cell membranes more readily and caused greater disruption, suggesting that the tiniest plastic particles may pose the greatest biological risk.

2021 Biointerphases 61 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics in the Environment: Sources, Fate, Toxicity, Challenges and Mitigation Strategies

This review covers the formation, environmental fate, and health risks of nanoplastics, emphasizing their capacity to penetrate biological barriers and cause oxidative stress, inflammation, DNA damage, and endocrine disruption, alongside current strategies for mitigation.

2025 Asian Journal of Environment & Ecology
Article Tier 2

Key mechanisms of micro- and nanoplastic (MNP) toxicity across taxonomic groups

This review examines the key ways micro- and nanoplastics cause biological harm across different types of organisms, from bacteria to humans. Researchers identified several common toxicity mechanisms including cell membrane damage, reactive oxygen species generation, DNA damage, and disruption of cellular structures like lysosomes and mitochondria. The study found that toxicity depends heavily on particle size, surface characteristics, and polymer type, and that human cell studies provide especially valuable insights into potential health risks.

2021 Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C Toxicology & Pharmacology 151 citations
Article Tier 2

Unravelling the knot: Microplastic properties and their correlation with the cellular response

Researchers correlated the physico-chemical properties of microplastic particles -- including surface chemistry, size, and surface charge density -- with cellular uptake and biological responses in model cell lines, finding that macrophages engulfed significantly more particles than epithelial cells, and that uptake and downstream inflammatory effects were size- and surface charge-dependent.

2022 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Molecular toxicity of nanoplastics involving in oxidative stress and desoxyribonucleic acid damage

This review examines the molecular mechanisms by which nanoplastics induce oxidative stress and DNA damage in biological systems, synthesizing findings from cell culture and animal studies. The evidence suggests that nanoplastics can cause genotoxic effects at the cellular level, which is relevant to understanding potential long-term health risks of chronic nanoplastic exposure.

2019 Journal of Molecular Recognition 64 citations
Article Tier 2

Genotoxic and neurotoxic potential of intracellular nanoplastics: A review

This review examines how nanoplastics, once inside human cells, could cause cancer and brain damage. At the cellular level, these tiny particles can disrupt waste-clearing processes, damage mitochondria, generate harmful free radicals, and directly damage DNA. In long-lived cells like neurons, nanoplastics may promote the buildup of toxic protein clumps linked to neurodegenerative diseases, while in rapidly dividing cells they could trigger tumor development.

2024 Journal of Applied Toxicology 38 citations
Article Tier 2

Hazard assessment of nanoplastics is driven by their surface-functionalization. Effects in human-derived primary endothelial cells

Researchers tested three types of polystyrene nanoplastics with different surface coatings on human blood vessel cells and found that the surface chemistry dramatically affected their toxicity. Positively charged nanoplastics were the most harmful, killing cells, while all types caused DNA damage and oxidative stress. This study shows that as plastics break down in the environment and their surface properties change, their potential to harm the cardiovascular system may change in unpredictable ways.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Influence of the polymer type on the impact of microplastic particles

Researchers compared cellular toxicity of microparticles made from polystyrene, polyethylene, PVC, PLA, and cellulose acetate in murine macrophages and epithelial cells, finding that polymer type influences cytotoxicity and uptake behavior. All particle types were ingested by macrophages, but their surface chemistry and charge affected the degree of cellular damage.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

A Systematic Genotoxicity Assessment of a Suite of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles Reveals Their DNA Damaging and Clastogenic Potential

Researchers systematically tested eight types of metal oxide nanoparticles for their ability to damage DNA in lung cells, finding that solubility in cell culture was a key factor driving toxicity. While this study focuses on metal nanoparticles rather than microplastics, the findings are relevant because microplastics often carry metal oxide particles on their surfaces, potentially delivering these DNA-damaging agents into the body.

2024 Nanomaterials 23 citations
Article Tier 2

The influence of microplastic particles on the effectiveness of electrochemotherapy in breast cancer cells

Researchers examined whether microplastic particle exposure affects the effectiveness of electrochemotherapy in breast cancer cells, investigating whether MPs could alter cellular responses to the combined electroporation and chemotherapy treatment through inflammatory or oxidative stress mechanisms.

2025 Wroclaw Medical University
Article Tier 2

Distinct lipid membrane interaction and uptake of differentially charged nanoplastics in bacteria

Researchers studied how nanoplastics with different surface charges interact with bacterial cell membranes, finding that positively charged particles penetrate bacteria far more effectively than neutral or negatively charged ones. The positively charged nanoplastics caused more cellular stress by generating reactive oxygen species and damaged cell structures differently depending on the bacterial type. These findings are important for understanding how nanoplastics may affect both environmental bacteria and the human microbiome.

2022 Journal of Nanobiotechnology 119 citations
Article Tier 2

Potential lifetime effects caused by cellular uptake of nanoplastics: A review

Researchers reviewed the potential lifetime health effects of nanoplastic uptake at the cellular level, noting that unlike larger micro- and macroplastics, nanoplastics can be absorbed directly by human cells. The study suggests that cellular uptake of nanoplastics may lead to various adverse effects including cytotoxicity, inflammation, and oxidative stress, though research on nanoplastic interactions with human cells is still in its early stages.

2023 Environmental Pollution 29 citations