Papers

61,005 results
|
Article Tier 2

Beyond genetics: can micro and nanoplastics induce epigenetic and gene-expression modifications?

This review gathers existing research on whether micro and nanoplastics can cause epigenetic changes, which are modifications that alter how genes work without changing the DNA itself. Although studies are still limited, the evidence so far shows that both short-term and long-term plastic particle exposure can trigger these gene-level changes in various organisms. This is concerning because epigenetic changes can potentially be passed to future generations and may contribute to disease.

2023 Frontiers in Epigenetics and Epigenomics 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental Xenobiotics and Epigenetic Modifications: Implications for Human Health and Disease

This review examines how environmental pollutants, including microplastics, can change gene activity through epigenetic modifications without altering DNA itself. These changes to how genes are turned on and off can contribute to cancer, brain diseases, and developmental problems, and may even be passed down to future generations. The research highlights that microplastics and other common pollutants could have long-lasting health effects that go beyond direct chemical toxicity.

2025 Journal of Xenobiotics 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Immune–Epigenetic Effects of Environmental Pollutants: Mechanisms, Biomarkers, and Transgenerational Impact

This review examines how environmental pollutants, including microplastics, heavy metals, and endocrine-disrupting chemicals, can alter immune function through epigenetic changes that modify gene expression without changing DNA itself. Researchers identified common molecular pathways through which these pollutants trigger inflammation and immune disruption. The study also highlights evidence that some of these epigenetic changes may be passed to future generations.

2025 Current Issues in Molecular Biology 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Untoward Effects of Micro- and Nanoplastics: An Expert Review of Their Biological Impact and Epigenetic Effects

This expert review examined the biological and epigenetic effects of micro- and nanoplastics on living organisms. The study suggests that while intestinal uptake of plastic particles appears relatively low and size-dependent, nanoplastics may dysregulate molecular signaling pathways, alter gut microbiota composition, and induce transgenerational epigenetic changes potentially linked to metabolic disorders.

2021 Advances in Nutrition 63 citations
Review Tier 2

Potential Health Impact of Microplastics: A Review of Environmental Distribution, Human Exposure, and Toxic Effects

This review summarizes existing research on how microplastics are found throughout the environment and in human samples, entering the body through food, air, and skin contact. Lab studies in cells and animals show microplastics can cause oxidative stress, DNA damage, immune reactions, brain toxicity, and reproductive harm, and early human health data links microplastic exposure to several chronic diseases.

2023 Environment & Health 519 citations
Article Tier 2

Air pollution and its impacts on health: Focus on microplastics and nanoplastics

This review summarizes how airborne micro- and nanoplastics enter the body through breathing, eating, and skin contact, contributing to health risks alongside traditional air pollutants. Plastic particles have been found in human blood, vein tissues, and lungs, and their presence in fine particulate matter in urban air may worsen the inflammation, oxidative stress, and respiratory and heart disease risks already associated with air pollution.

2025 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of microplastics and nanoplastics on human Health: Emerging evidence and future directions

This review summarizes current evidence on how micro- and nanoplastics enter the human body through food, air, and skin contact, and the cellular damage they may cause. While microplastic pollution is a recognized environmental hazard, the authors note that definitive evidence linking plastic particle exposure to specific health outcomes in humans is still limited and more realistic exposure studies are needed.

2025 Emerging contaminants 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics as Epigenetic Disruptors: A Biochemical Review of Environmental Pollutants and Gene Regulation

This biochemical review examined how nanoplastics disrupt epigenetic regulation, focusing on their ability to alter DNA methylation patterns, histone modifications, and non-coding RNA expression. The authors argued that nanoplastic-induced epigenetic changes could have lasting developmental and health consequences, especially during vulnerable life stages.

2025 OICC Press Journals
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and Nanoplastics as Environmental Contaminants of Emerging Concern: Potential Hazards for Human Health

This review covers how microplastics and nanoplastics enter humans through food, air, and skin contact, accumulating in the body over time. Inhaled particles can damage the lungs from the upper airways down to the deepest air sacs, and prolonged exposure has been linked to chronic inflammation, autoimmune disease, atherosclerosis, and cancer. The authors call for source reduction, material substitution, and better filtration to reduce exposure.

2024 Sustainability 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Fifteen Years of Airborne Particulates in Vitro Toxicology in Milano: Lessons and Perspectives Learned

This review summarized fifteen years of in vitro toxicology research on airborne particulates collected in Milan, highlighting molecular mechanisms of inflammation, oxidative stress, and DNA damage, while pointing to emerging evidence that particulates modulate genes and microRNAs implicated in epigenetic disease processes.

2020 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 29 citations
Review Tier 2

A review on microplastics and nanoplastics in the environment: Their occurrence, exposure routes, toxic studies, and potential effects on human health

This review summarizes what is known about how microplastics and nanoplastics enter the human body through food, air, and skin contact, and what they do once inside. Studies on cells and animals show these tiny particles can cause oxidative stress, DNA damage, inflammation, and harm to the immune, digestive, reproductive, and nervous systems. The research makes clear that microplastics are not just an environmental problem but a direct concern for human health.

2022 Marine Pollution Bulletin 379 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro(nano)plastics pollution and human health: How plastics can induce carcinogenesis to humans?

This review examines how microplastics and nanoplastics enter the human body through food, water, and air, and how they may contribute to cancer development. Common plastic types like polystyrene and PVC, along with toxic chemicals they carry such as PAHs and PCBs, have been linked to DNA damage, oxidative stress, and inflammation, all of which can promote cancer. The paper highlights that while the evidence is growing, more research is needed to understand the full cancer risk from chronic microplastic exposure.

2022 Chemosphere 367 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro(nano)plastics in the brain: Epigenetic perturbations in progression to neurodegenerative diseases.

This review examined how micro(nano)plastics (MNPs) accumulate in the brain and induce epigenetic changes—including DNA methylation and histone modification—that may drive the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. MNPs were found to disrupt neuronal homeostasis through multiple epigenetic mechanisms after crossing the blood-brain barrier.

2025 Neurotoxicology and teratology
Article Tier 2

Epigenetics of Microplastics

This student-authored paper reviews how microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) can alter gene expression and enzyme activity in animals, with particular concern for effects on the liver, brain, and male reproductive system. MNPs act as carriers for toxic chemicals like BPA, phthalates, and heavy metals, which can trigger inflammation, oxidative stress, and potentially cancer when ingested by humans. The paper highlights that human exposure is already occurring through contaminated soil, water, and food, making understanding these epigenetic risks an urgent public health priority.

2023 International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science
Article Tier 2

Exploring the epigenome to identify biological links between the urban environment and neurodegenerative disease: an evidence review

This review examines how environmental factors commonly found in cities, such as air pollution and traffic-related contaminants, may contribute to neurodegenerative diseases through changes in gene regulation known as epigenetic modifications. Researchers found that pollutant exposures can alter DNA methylation and other epigenetic markers linked to brain health, though the evidence base remains limited. The study suggests that studying these molecular-level changes could help explain why urban living is associated with higher rates of cognitive decline.

2024 Cities & Health 7 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Systematic Review: Efek Nanoplastik terhadap Metilasi DNA pada Manusia

This systematic review, written in Indonesian, examines how nanoplastics may affect DNA methylation in humans — a process that controls which genes are turned on or off. Changes in DNA methylation can influence disease risk, including cancer. The review highlights an important but understudied pathway through which tiny plastic particles could affect human health at the genetic level.

2023 Media Gizi Kesmas 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Exposure to environmental xenobiotics and lung tissue function: A comprehensive review on biological mechanisms and pathways

This comprehensive review examines how environmental pollutants including microplastics, heavy metals, and volatile organic compounds damage lung tissue through mechanisms like oxidative stress, inflammation, and disruption of cellular barriers. The study suggests these pollutants contribute to chronic respiratory diseases and highlights how they can also cause epigenetic changes that may affect future generations.

2025 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Exposure and inhaling of microplastics: An evidence of cause of cancer

This review examined the evidence linking microplastic inhalation to cancer risk, covering how inhaled MPs accumulate in the lungs, trigger chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and DNA damage, and may contribute to lung carcinogenesis. The authors identified microplastic inhalation as an underappreciated occupational and environmental cancer risk.

2025 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

The alarming link between environmental microplastics and health hazards with special emphasis on cancer

This review describes how microplastics enter the human body through the nose, skin, and mouth, then penetrate cells where they can alter gene expression, fuel inflammation, disrupt hormone signaling, and promote uncontrolled cell growth. Studies have linked microplastic exposure to cancers of the lungs, blood, breast, prostate, and ovaries, though the precise molecular mechanisms still need further investigation.

2024 Life Sciences 90 citations
Article Tier 2

Atmospheric microplastic and nanoplastic: The toxicological paradigm on the cellular system

This review examines how airborne microplastics and nanoplastics affect human cells after being inhaled into the lungs. Because these particles are tiny and lightweight, they can penetrate deep into lung tissue and potentially enter the bloodstream. Studies on human cell lines show that inhaled plastic particles can cause inflammation, oxidative stress, and DNA damage, raising concerns about long-term respiratory and systemic health effects.

2023 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 71 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

A systematic review of associations between the environment, DNA methylation, and cognition

This systematic review of 14 studies found that DNA methylation statistically mediates the association between environmental exposures (air pollution, heavy metals, pesticides) and cognitive outcomes in 10 of the 14 studies. While the review focuses broadly on environmental epigenetics rather than microplastics specifically, it provides a framework for understanding how pollutant exposures may drive neurodegenerative disease through epigenetic mechanisms.

2024 Current Zoology 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Molecular mechanisms of air pollution–induced carcinogenesis and the emerging role of microplastics

This review examined the molecular mechanisms by which air pollution components — including fine particulate matter, microplastics, volatile organic compounds, and heavy metals — contribute to cancer development. The authors identify microplastics as an emerging air pollution carcinogen that can carry and deliver chemical carcinogens into lung tissue.

2025 Human Genomics
Article Tier 2

Micro- and nanoplastics: Emerging environmental threats to the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastic exposure may contribute to chronic health conditions through the lens of developmental origins of health and disease. Evidence suggests that microplastics accumulate in human metabolic and reproductive tissues and may induce physiological and epigenetic changes that could potentially be inherited by future generations, though research into these mechanisms is still in early stages.

2025 Reproductive Toxicology 1 citations
Article Tier 2

The Classification, Related Hazards and Biomarkers of Particulate Matter

This review categorises particulate matter (PM) pollutants — including microplastics alongside mineral dusts, combustion particles, and other fine particles — and summarises how they enter the body and damage cells and organs. The paper identifies potential biomarkers that could be used to detect early-stage damage from particle exposure. By placing microplastics within the broader landscape of particle toxicology, the review helps contextualise their health risks alongside better-studied airborne pollutants.

2023 Applied Medical Research 1 citations