Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

The Known and Unknown: Investigating the Carcinogenic Potential of Plastic Additives

A comprehensive analysis of 2,712 known plastic additives found that over 150 are already classified as carcinogenic, while roughly 90% have never been tested for cancer-causing potential. Both the known carcinogens and the untested additives affected similar biological pathways related to DNA damage, immune response, and cancer, suggesting the true cancer risk from plastics may be significantly underestimated.

2024 Environmental Science & Technology 46 citations
Article Tier 2

Leveraging integrative toxicogenomic approach towards development of stressor-centric adverse outcome pathway networks for plastic additives

Researchers applied integrative toxicogenomics to develop adverse outcome pathway networks for plastic additives that leach into the environment during plastic degradation. The study suggests that this approach can help systematically assess the health risks of chemical additives released from plastics across atmospheric, terrestrial, and aquatic ecosystems.

2024 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental and health hazards of chemicals in plastic polymers and products

Researchers reviewed the environmental and health hazards of chemicals in plastic polymers and products, examining the toxicological profiles of monomers, additives, and degradation products that can leach from plastics into food, water, and the environment. The study identifies numerous plastic-associated chemicals with endocrine-disrupting, carcinogenic, or developmental toxicity potential and calls for more comprehensive safety testing of plastic formulations.

2011 Gothenburg University Publications Electronic Archive (Gothenburg University) 64 citations
Article Tier 2

Insights into the potential carcinogenicity of micro- and nano-plastics.

This review examined existing evidence on the carcinogenic potential of micro- and nano-plastics, finding studies demonstrating genotoxicity, oxidative DNA damage, disruption of cell signaling, and tumor-promoting effects, while noting that direct human carcinogenicity data remain limited and mechanistic pathways require further investigation.

2023 Mutation research. Reviews in mutation research
Article Tier 2

Toxic Components of Plastic Pose Carcinogenic Threat to Public Health

A wide range of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals — including bisphenol A, phthalates, brominated flame retardants, and polychlorinated biphenyls — are incorporated into common plastic products and can leach out during use. This review argues that chronic low-level exposure to these plastic-associated chemicals poses serious genotoxic and cancer risks to humans, and calls for greater public awareness and investment in safer biodegradable alternatives.

2023 Journal Of Advanced Zoology
Article Tier 2

Plastic additives and microplastics as emerging contaminants: Mechanisms and analytical assessment

Researchers reviewed how chemical additives mixed into plastics during manufacturing — including stabilizers, flame retardants, and plasticizers — can leach out throughout a plastic's lifecycle and pose risks to ecosystems and human health, with microplastics acting as carriers that concentrate and transport these hazardous chemicals.

2022 TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry 194 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic pollution-Microplastics: Cancer related issues

This review examines how microplastics may contribute to cancer risk, summarizing evidence that ingested microplastics can cross the gut epithelium, accumulate in tissues, induce oxidative stress and inflammation, and carry carcinogenic chemical additives.

2025 World Journal of Biology Pharmacy and Health Sciences
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

Adverse Health Effects of Plastics

This review summarizes the adverse health effects associated with plastic exposure, including endocrine disruption, inflammation, and potential carcinogenicity from plastic additives and microplastic particles. It provides an accessible overview of mechanisms by which plastics can harm human health across multiple organ systems.

2020 International Journal of Global Science Research 2 citations
Article Tier 2

The impact of environmental microplastics as emerging carcinogens: A public health concern

This review investigated the mechanisms by which microplastics may contribute to cancer development, examining studies from 2010 to 2024. Researchers found that microplastics can induce oxidative stress, inflammation, and DNA damage through multiple pathways, and that human exposure occurs primarily through ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact. The study suggests that microplastics represent an emerging class of environmental concern warranting further investigation into their long-term health effects.

2024 Multidisciplinary Reviews 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Derivatives of Plastics as Potential Carcinogenic Factors: The Current State of Knowledge

Researchers reviewed the current evidence on micro- and nanoplastics as potential carcinogenic substances that may cause DNA damage. The review found correlations between exposure to micro- and nanoplastic particles and the onset of several cancers, though the study notes that more research is needed to establish clear causal relationships between plastic particle exposure and cancer development.

2022 Cancers 69 citations
Article Tier 2

Development of AOP relevant to microplastics based on toxicity mechanisms of chemical additives using ToxCast™ and deep learning models combined approach

Researchers used ToxCast high-throughput screening data and deep learning models to build adverse outcome pathway (AOP) models for common plastic additive chemicals, identifying molecular initiating events and potential health endpoints relevant to human and environmental microplastic toxicity.

2020 Environment International 104 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Plastic additives in the ocean: Use of a comprehensive dataset for meta-analysis and method development

Researchers compiled the first comprehensive database of studies measuring the more than 13,000 chemical additives — including plasticizers, flame retardants, and antioxidants — that are mixed into plastics and can leach into ocean water, sediment, and marine life. Their meta-analysis revealed major gaps in what's being monitored, with only a small fraction of known additives currently being tested for in marine environments.

2024 Chemosphere 13 citations
Article Tier 2

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

This review examines epidemiological and experimental evidence linking microplastic inhalation and ingestion to cancer risk, covering mechanisms including oxidative stress, inflammation, and genotoxicity from both particles and associated chemical additives. It highlights lung and gastrointestinal cancers as priority areas of concern.

2025 World Journal of Biology Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Review Tier 2

Contribution of chemical toxicity to the overall toxicity of microplastic particles: A review

This review examines how the chemical toxicity of microplastics, from leached additives and absorbed pollutants, contributes to their overall harmful effects beyond just physical damage. Over 16,000 chemicals are used in plastic manufacturing, many of which can leach out and cause harm to living organisms at environmentally realistic concentrations. The findings suggest that the chemical cocktail carried by microplastics may be just as important as their physical presence when assessing health risks.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Cancer and Environmental Xenobiotics: Mechanisms, Controversies, and Innovations

This review examined the mechanisms by which environmental xenobiotics—including heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, pesticides, phthalates, and microplastics—contribute to cancer development, synthesizing evidence across multiple tumor types. The authors found that chronic low-dose exposures to plastic-associated chemicals are increasingly implicated in carcinogenesis via DNA damage, hormonal disruption, and epigenetic mechanisms.

2025 Journal of Xenobiotics
Article Tier 2

Toxicity of plastic consumer products: a biological, chemical and social-ecological analysis

This study analyzed the toxic chemicals found in consumer plastic products, including additives, monomers, and processing by-products that can leach into food or the environment. The findings highlight that plastic toxicity extends beyond microplastic particles themselves — the chemicals embedded in plastics pose significant health risks through food packaging and environmental contamination.

2021
Article Tier 2

Complex Web of Carcinogens in the Environment: a Comprehensive Review

This broad environmental health review examines the range of carcinogens present in human environments — including industrial chemicals, air pollutants, radiation, and emerging contaminants — and synthesizes evidence on their contribution to cancer risk. While microplastics are addressed as part of the emerging chemical contaminant category, the review primarily covers the wider landscape of environmental cancer causes.

2023 Era s journal of medical research
Article Tier 2

Toxicological Consequences of Microplastic Exposure on Human Health: Mechanisms, Pathways, and Systemic Outcomes

Researchers synthesized toxicological and epidemiological evidence showing that chronic exposure to microplastics and plastic chemical additives — including BPA and phthalates — is linked to hormone disruption, cancer, metabolic disorders, and developmental problems. The authors argue that current regulations are far too weak and call for a shift toward proactive prevention, including biodegradable materials and global monitoring systems.

2025 Healthcraft Frontiers
Article Tier 2

Toxic Chemicals and Persistent Organic Pollutants Associated with Micro-and Nanoplastics Pollution

Researchers reviewed how micro- and nanoplastics act as carriers for toxic chemical additives and persistent organic pollutants — like flame retardants and pesticides — making these contaminants more available and harmful once they enter food chains and human bodies. The review identifies major gaps in understanding how these chemicals detach from plastic particles inside living organisms and what health effects they cause.

2022 Chemical Engineering Journal Advances 218 citations
Article Tier 2

Examination of plastic’s hazards to human health underway

This study examined the multiple health hazards that plastics pose to humans across their entire life cycle, from fossil fuel extraction used as feedstocks through everyday use and disposal, conducting a comprehensive interdisciplinary analysis of exposure pathways and associated health effects.

2022 C&EN Global Enterprise
Article Tier 2

Exploring the prognostic implications of PET microplastic degradation products in colorectal cancer: insights from an integrated computational analysis on glucocorticoid pathway–mediated mechanisms

Combining network toxicology, machine learning, and molecular docking, this study found that PET plastic degradation products ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid may influence colorectal cancer prognosis through 43 shared genes linked to TNF/IL-17 signaling and glucocorticoid-mediated metabolic pathways.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Risk assessment of added chemicals in plastics in the Danish marine environment

Researchers conducted a risk assessment of chemical additives and monomers present in plastics ingested by marine organisms in the Danish marine environment, defining eight cases based on polymer types and product groups representing high-risk exposure scenarios. Risk Quotients were calculated to identify which plastic-associated chemicals posed the greatest hazard to marine organisms.

2020 Marine Pollution Bulletin 20 citations
Article Tier 2

From exposure to oncogenesis: a review on the multifaceted roles of microplastics in tumor initiation and progression

This review examined the evidence linking microplastic exposure to tumor initiation and progression, covering physical, chemical, and inflammatory mechanisms by which MPs may promote oncogenesis. The authors conclude that while current evidence is largely preclinical, accumulating data warrant serious concern about microplastics as environmental carcinogens.

2025 Journal of Translational Medicine