Papers

61,005 results
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Review Tier 2

A review on micro- and nanoplastics in humans: Implication for their translocation of barriers and potential health effects

This review compiles evidence showing that micro- and nanoplastics have been found in human blood, lungs, placenta, and other organs, and can cross protective barriers including the blood-brain and placental barriers. The accumulated evidence links these particles to inflammation, oxidative stress, hormone disruption, and potential effects on reproduction and brain health, though more research is needed to determine exact risk levels.

2024 Chemosphere 35 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
Article Tier 2

Health impacts of microplastic and nanoplastic exposure

This review examines the growing evidence that micro- and nanoplastics can cross barriers in the lungs and gut, enter the bloodstream, and reach organs like the brain, placenta, and reproductive system. Early clinical studies suggest links to immune changes, heart problems, and reproductive effects, though more research is needed. Better methods for measuring plastic exposure in humans are critical to understanding the true health risks.

2025 Nature Medicine 50 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Systemic Accumulation and Distribution of Micro- and Nanoplastics in Human Tissues and Their Impact on Health: A Systematic Review

This systematic review synthesizes human evidence on the presence of micro- and nanoplastics in body tissues and fluids, including blood, lungs, placenta, breast milk, and liver. The research confirms that plastic particles can cross biological barriers and accumulate in multiple organ systems. While the long-term health effects are still being studied, the widespread presence of plastics inside the human body raises significant health concerns.

2026 Open Science Framework
Article Tier 2

Exposure Pathways, Systemic Distribution, and Health Implications of Micro- and Nanoplastics in Humans

This review summarizes how micro- and nanoplastics enter the human body through food, air, and skin, then distribute to organs throughout the body. Research in animal and cell models shows these particles can cause oxidative stress, inflammation, brain toxicity, reproductive problems, and potentially cancer, though standardized methods for assessing real-world human health risks are still needed.

2025 Applied Sciences 12 citations
Review Tier 2

Micro- and nanoplastics: origin, sources of intake and impact on human health (literature review)

This literature review synthesizes mechanisms by which micro- and nanoplastics interact with living organisms, examining their physicochemical properties, routes of human exposure, and documented health effects across multiple organ systems.

2025 Hygiene and Sanitation
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
Review Tier 2

Nano- and microplastics: a comprehensive review on their exposure routes, translocation, and fate in humans

This comprehensive review traces the journey of nano- and microplastics through the human body, covering how they enter through breathing, eating, drinking, and skin contact. Once inside, the smallest particles can cross the gut and lung barriers, enter the bloodstream, and accumulate in organs including the liver, kidneys, and placenta. The review highlights significant knowledge gaps about long-term health effects but notes that the evidence for internal accumulation in humans is growing.

2022 NanoImpact 202 citations
Article Tier 2

A critical review of micro- and nanoplastic permeation in the human body

This critical review examines how micro- and nanoplastics enter and move through the human body after exposure through food, beverages, and air. Researchers synthesized evidence showing these particles have been detected in multiple human tissues and organs, raising concerns about their potential long-term health effects from chronic environmental exposure.

2026 Microplastics and Nanoplastics
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

Impact of microplastics and nanoplastics on human health: Mechanistic insights and exposure pathways

This review examines how microplastics and nanoplastics enter the human body through ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact, and deposit in tissues including the lungs, kidneys, and gastrointestinal tract. Evidence indicates these particles can cross embryonic layers and reach the placenta, and may cause inflammation, oxidative stress, metabolic disruptions, and immune system effects upon interaction with biological tissues.

2025 Toxicology Letters 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Evidence on Invasion of Blood, Adipose Tissues, Nervous System and Reproductive System of Mice After a Single Oral Exposure: Nanoplastics versus Microplastics.

Researchers found that after a single oral exposure in mice, nanoplastics were rapidly absorbed into the blood, accumulated in fat tissues, and crossed both the blood-brain and blood-testis barriers. The study demonstrated that the distribution and behavior of plastic particles in mammals is strongly dependent on particle size, with nanoplastics showing substantially greater tissue penetration than microplastics.

2022 PubMed 62 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport of microplastics in the body and interaction with biological barriers, and controlling of microplastics pollution

This review summarizes how microplastics enter the human body through food, water, and air, and what happens when they encounter the body's protective barriers like the gut lining, skin, and blood-brain barrier. Smaller microplastics can cross these barriers and accumulate in organs, potentially causing inflammation and other harmful effects. The review also covers emerging methods for removing microplastics from the environment to reduce human exposure.

2023 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 78 citations
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

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

This review covers how micro- and nanoplastic particles enter the human body through ingestion, inhalation, infusion, and skin absorption, distribute to virtually all tissues and organs via the circulatory system, and cause health impacts including inflammatory responses, cellular damage, and endocrine disruption.

2025 Preprints.org
Systematic Review Tier 1

Toxicity and Accumulation of Nanoplastics Materials: A Review of Experimental Evidence Across Biological Systems

This systematic review of studies from 2010 to 2025 found that nanoplastics can penetrate biological barriers and accumulate in tissues across many organisms. Their tiny size makes them especially concerning because they can enter cells, cause oxidative stress and inflammation, and potentially affect organ function in ways that larger plastic particles cannot.

2025 Biomedical & Pharmacology Journal
Article Tier 2

Crossing barriers – tracking micro- and nanoplastic pathways into the human brain

Researchers tracked potential pathways by which micro- and nanoplastics may enter the human brain, examining both in vitro cell models and post-mortem brain tissue. They found that human monocytes rapidly internalized polystyrene particles into endocytic vesicles and mitochondria, and detected plastic particles in brain tissue samples, providing evidence that nanoplastics may be capable of crossing brain barriers.

2026
Article Tier 2

From natural environment to animal tissues: A review of microplastics(nanoplastics) translocation and hazards studies

This review summarizes how micro- and nanoplastics travel from the environment into animal bodies through water, food, air, and even skin contact, then move through the bloodstream to accumulate in organs. Once inside, these particles cause oxidative stress, inflammation, gut damage, reproductive harm, and nervous system effects across many animal species. The findings strongly suggest that similar pathways of exposure and harm could apply to humans.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 233 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro(nano)plastics, an emerging health problem

This review frames micro- and nanoplastics as an emerging human health problem, synthesizing evidence of exposure routes, organ-level accumulation, and biological effects, and calling for updated regulatory frameworks to address this novel class of environmental contaminants.

2025 Environmental Research and Ecotoxicity
Article Tier 2

Toxicokinetic Effects of Micro/Nano Plastics on Human Health

This review covers the toxicokinetics of micro- and nanoplastics in humans, examining how particles enter the body through ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact, distribute across organs via the circulatory system, and trigger cellular and biochemical responses at the tissue level.

2025
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
Article Tier 2

Human exposure to micro- and nanoplastic: biological effects and health consequence

This review summarized the biological effects and health consequences of human exposure to micro- and nanoplastics, covering routes of uptake (ingestion, inhalation, dermal), cellular toxicity mechanisms, and systemic health risks identified in recent experimental and epidemiological studies.

2023 Reviews in Biological and Biomedical Sciences 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Blood uptake and urine excretion of nano- and micro-plastics after a single exposure.

Mice exposed to polystyrene nanoparticles (100 nm) and microparticles (3 µm) via different routes showed that smaller particles appeared rapidly in blood and were detected in urine, while larger particles cleared more slowly. The study provides direct evidence that nanoplastics can cross biological barriers and enter circulation, with potential for distribution throughout the body.

2022 The Science of the total environment
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