Papers

20 results
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Review Tier 2

Microplastics and Human Health: A Comprehensive Review on Exposure Pathways, Toxicity, and Emerging Risks

This comprehensive review examines microplastic exposure pathways in humans, methods of detection, and the potential toxic effects on various biological systems. The study highlights growing evidence that microplastics can enter the body through ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact, and may affect multiple organ systems, though significant uncertainties remain about long-term health outcomes.

2026 Microplastics
Article Tier 2

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

This review covers how microplastics enter the human body through ingestion and inhalation, the challenges of detecting and measuring them in biological samples, and the evidence for harmful effects ranging from inflammation to hormonal disruption. Standardising methods for measuring microplastics in tissues and bodily fluids is a key obstacle to advancing human health research. The review provides a useful framework for understanding what we know and what still needs to be established about microplastic risks to people.

2023 Research Square (Research Square)
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
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 in humans: Current evidence of presence and their role in organ toxicity

This comprehensive review examined how microplastics enter the human body through ingestion, inhalation, dermal absorption, and maternal-fetal transfer, summarizing documented evidence of MP presence and toxic effects across multiple organs.

2025 International Journal of Biology Sciences
Article Tier 2

Human exposure to microplastics: A review on exposure routes and public health impacts

This review examines how microplastics enter the human body through food, air, and skin contact and the health effects they can cause, including oxidative stress, inflammation, hormone disruption, and potential DNA damage. Despite growing evidence of harm, the exact routes plastics take through the body and the cellular mechanisms behind their effects are still not well understood, and there is an urgent need for standardized detection methods.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 37 citations
Article Tier 2

Why Detecting Nanoplastics in Humans Matters: Exposure Routes, Biological Evidence, and Potential Health Implications

This review summarizes current evidence on nanoplastic detection in human biological samples, including blood, lung tissue, placenta, and brain samples, confirming that human exposure involves internal uptake rather than just environmental contact. The study discusses how ingestion and inhalation are the dominant exposure pathways, while experimental research suggests nanoplastics may induce oxidative stress, inflammation, and endocrine disruption, though direct causal links in humans remain limited.

2026
Article Tier 2

Detection of microplastics in human tissues and organs: A scoping review

This scoping review summarizes studies that have detected microplastics in various human tissues and organs. The review found that microplastics enter the body through multiple routes and have distinct characteristics depending on where they accumulate. The variety of analytical techniques used across studies makes direct comparisons difficult, highlighting the need for standardized methods.

2024 Journal of Global Health 130 citations
Article Tier 2

Methods for the detection of microplastics in mammals

Scientists now detect microplastics in human blood, lungs, placentas, and other tissues, but the field still lacks a single gold-standard method for measuring them. This review compares the strengths and limitations of current detection techniques — including spectroscopy, microscopy, and chemical digestion — to help standardize how microplastics in the human body are quantified, which is a prerequisite for accurately assessing health risks.

2023 Theoretical and Natural Science
Article Tier 2

Detection of nano- and microplastics in mammalian tissue

This review examined methods for detecting nano- and microplastics in mammalian tissue, surveying analytical approaches as concerns grow about accumulation in biological systems. The paper discussed how continuous fragmentation and environmental accumulation are increasing the likelihood of tissue uptake across multiple organ systems.

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

Microplastics in the human body: A comprehensive review of exposure, distribution, migration mechanisms, and toxicity

This comprehensive review pulls together research on how microplastics enter the human body through food, air, and skin contact, and where they accumulate in organs and tissues. The review discusses how particle size determines whether microplastics can cross biological barriers like the gut lining and blood-brain barrier. The authors conclude that microplastics pose significant health risks and call for more research into their long-term effects.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 176 citations
Article Tier 2

[Human Accumulation and Toxic Effects of Microplastics:A Critical Review].

This review summarizes how microplastics enter the human body through food, drinking water, and air, and where they tend to accumulate in organs and tissues. Researchers found evidence that microplastics can trigger inflammatory responses and oxidative stress in the body. The study calls for more research into the long-term health effects of continuous microplastic exposure in humans.

2024 PubMed 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of microplastics on human health: exposure mechanisms and potential health implications

This review examines how microplastics enter the human body through food, drinking water, and inhaled air, and summarizes what is known about their potential health effects. Researchers found that microplastics have been detected in human stool samples, blood, and lung tissue, and may carry harmful chemicals and pathogens. The study highlights that while evidence of direct health impacts is still emerging, the widespread presence of microplastics in everyday exposure pathways warrants serious attention.

2024 Quality in Sport 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Advancements in Assays for Micro- and Nanoplastic Detection: Paving the Way for Biomonitoring and Exposomics Studies

This review surveys the latest methods for detecting micro and nanoplastics in human tissues and bodily fluids, including blood, breast milk, stool, and lung tissue. Current detection techniques have significant limitations in sensitivity and standardization, making it difficult to accurately measure how much plastic is in people's bodies. Developing better, scalable detection methods is essential for understanding the true extent of human microplastic exposure and its health consequences.

2024 The Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Identification and Quantification in Biological Samples

This review examines methods for identifying and quantifying microplastics in biological samples, noting the urgent need for standardized protocols as plastic particles accumulate in marine, terrestrial, and human environments. The paper discusses human exposure routes through ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact, and highlights gaps in understanding microplastic effects on coagulation and other biological processes.

2024 Proceedings of IMPRS
Article Tier 2

Tracing Microplastics in the Human Body: From Detection to Disease Mechanisms

This review traces the detection of microplastics across multiple human tissues — from nasal lavage and bronchoalveolar fluid to blood and lung tissue — and examines the disease mechanisms linking plastic particle accumulation to respiratory, cardiovascular, and other systemic health effects.

2025 Diagnostics
Systematic Review Tier 1

A systematic review of the impacts of exposure to micro- and nano-plastics on human tissue accumulation and health

This systematic review found growing evidence that micro- and nanoplastics accumulate in human tissues including lungs, gut, and blood, with lab studies showing potential disruption to immune, reproductive, endocrine, and nervous systems. The review identifies ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact as the three main exposure routes and highlights that the smallest nanoplastic particles pose the greatest concern due to their ability to cross biological barriers.

2023 Eco-Environment & Health 180 citations
Article Tier 2

Human Toxicity of Nano‐ and Microplastics

This review summarizes current evidence on the human toxicity of nano- and microplastics, covering ingestion, inhalation, and dermal exposure routes and the biological effects documented in experimental systems. The authors assess the state of the evidence and identify key gaps for risk characterization.

2024 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Humans: A Critical Review of Biomonitoring Evidence and Immune–Metabolic Associations

This review critically evaluates the current evidence on microplastic detection in human tissues and biological fluids, focusing on methodological challenges and the potential biological mechanisms of action. Researchers found significant variation across studies due to differences in analytical techniques and sample handling protocols. The study highlights emerging evidence linking microplastic presence in the body to immune and metabolic disruptions, while noting that standardized detection methods are urgently needed.

2025 Applied Sciences 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro- and Nanoplastics on Human Health and Diseases: Perspectives and Recent Advances

This review provides a comprehensive overview of how micro- and nanoplastics enter the human body through ingestion, inhalation, and skin absorption, and how they can then travel through the bloodstream to reach virtually every organ. Researchers summarize evidence that these particles can trigger inflammation, oxidative stress, and disruption of hormonal and immune functions. The study emphasizes that the ability of these particles to cross biological barriers and accumulate in tissues makes understanding their long-term health effects an urgent research priority.

2025 Microplastics 3 citations