Papers

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Article Tier 2

Photoaged polystyrene nanoplastics induce perturbation of glucose metabolism in HepG2 cells via oxidative stress

Researchers exposed human liver cells to polystyrene nanoplastics with varying degrees of UV-induced aging and found that photoaged particles caused more severe disruptions to glucose metabolism than pristine ones. Long-term photoaged nanoplastics triggered dose-dependent metabolic disorders through oxidative stress, while pristine particles only caused effects at high concentrations. The study suggests that weathered nanoplastics in the environment may pose greater health risks than fresh plastic particles.

2025 Environmental Pollution 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Ultraviolet-induced photodegradation elevated the toxicity of polystyrene nanoplastics on human lung epithelial A549 cells

Researchers found that UV-induced photodegradation significantly increased the toxicity of polystyrene nanoplastics on human lung epithelial cells. The degraded nanoplastics caused greater cell death, stronger oxidative stress, more severe membrane damage, and intensive mitochondrial dysfunction compared to non-degraded particles, suggesting that weathered nanoplastics in the environment may pose greater health risks than pristine ones.

2021 Environmental Science Nano 50 citations
Article Tier 2

UV-aged polystyrene nanoplastics aggravate intestinal barrier damage by overproduction of ROS

Researchers compared the intestinal effects of new versus UV-weathered polystyrene nanoplastics in mice and found that the aged particles caused significantly more damage to the gut lining. The weathered nanoplastics generated higher levels of reactive oxygen species, leading to greater oxidative damage and disruption of the intestinal barrier. The study suggests that nanoplastics that have been exposed to sunlight in the environment may pose greater health risks than freshly produced particles.

2024 Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmentally relevant UV-light weathering of polystyrene micro- and nanoplastics promotes hepatotoxicity in a human cell line

Researchers found that UV-weathered polystyrene micro- and nanoplastics at environmentally relevant concentrations induced hepatotoxicity in human liver cells and caused significant changes in gene expression related to liver disease pathways.

2023 Environmental Science Nano 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Photoaging of polystyrene-based microplastics amplifies inflammatory response in macrophages

Researchers found that polystyrene microplastics aged by sunlight exposure for just three hours triggered stronger inflammatory responses and DNA damage in immune cells than fresh microplastics, even at very low concentrations. The aging process changed the particles' surface properties, making them more biologically reactive. Since most microplastics in the real world have been weathered by sunlight, this study suggests their actual health impact may be greater than lab studies using pristine particles indicate.

2024 Chemosphere 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Photo-transformation of microplastics and its toxicity to Caco-2 cells

Researchers studied how ultraviolet light transforms polystyrene microplastics and how these changes affect toxicity to human intestinal cells. They found that UV exposure roughened the particle surfaces and introduced oxygen-containing functional groups, and that these photo-transformed microplastics were significantly more toxic to Caco-2 cells than pristine particles. The study suggests that environmentally weathered microplastics may pose greater risks to the human digestive system than freshly produced ones.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 64 citations
Article Tier 2

Photoaging of polystyrene microspheres causes oxidative alterations to surface physicochemistry and enhances airway epithelial toxicity

Researchers aged polystyrene microplastics with UV light and then tested their effects on human lung cells. They found that UV-weathered particles caused more pronounced biological responses than fresh ones, including cell cycle disruption, altered cell shape, and impaired wound healing. The study suggests that environmental aging of airborne microplastics may increase their potential to harm respiratory tissues.

2023 Toxicological Sciences 39 citations
Article Tier 2

Unraveling the impacts of photolysis-induced aging microplastics on enhanced immunotoxicity and nephrotoxicity

Researchers compared the toxicity of pristine and sun-aged polyethylene and PET microplastics on kidney cells and immune cells and found that aged particles were up to 40 percent more toxic. The increased harm was attributed to environmentally persistent free radicals that form on plastic surfaces during UV exposure, which amplify oxidative stress inside cells. The study highlights that weathered microplastics in the real environment may pose greater health risks than the pristine particles typically used in laboratory studies.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Intranasal exposure to UV-irradiated polystyrene nanoplastics triggers vital organ inflammation and cognitive impairment

Researchers exposed rats to polystyrene nanoplastics through nasal passages and found that UV-irradiated particles caused more severe damage than pristine ones, triggering inflammation in the lungs, liver, and kidneys. Smaller 100-nanometer particles caused more serious liver damage than larger 600-nanometer particles, as indicated by elevated liver enzyme levels. The study also found that learning and memory abilities declined as the duration of nanoplastic photoaging increased.

2025 Journal of Environmental Sciences 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigation of Surface Alteration of Microplastics by Using UV Irradiation

UV radiation causes polystyrene and other plastic microparticles to undergo photooxidative degradation, changing their surface chemistry and potentially making them more likely to adsorb or release chemical pollutants. Understanding these weathering processes is important for predicting the environmental behavior and toxicity of microplastics.

2020 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Microcystins-Loaded Aged Nanoplastics Provoke a Metabolic Shift in Human Liver Cells

Researchers found that aged polystyrene nanoplastics can adsorb significantly more microcystin toxins than pristine nanoplastics, and the toxin-loaded particles caused greater harm to human liver cells. The combined exposure triggered metabolic energy disruption, oxidative damage, and stress in cellular machinery. The study suggests that environmentally weathered nanoplastics may pose amplified health risks by carrying higher loads of harmful waterborne toxins.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Aggregation kinetics of UV irradiated nanoplastics in aquatic environments

Researchers compared the aggregation behavior of fresh versus UV-aged polystyrene nanoplastics under various aquatic conditions. They found that UV aging altered the surface chemistry of nanoplastics, making them more stable in water and less likely to aggregate, which means they could remain suspended and bioavailable for longer periods. The study suggests that weathered nanoplastics may behave very differently from fresh particles in the environment, complicating risk assessments.

2019 Water Research 214 citations
Article Tier 2

Photoaging of polystyrene microspheres causes oxidative alterations to surface physicochemistry and enhances airway epithelial toxicity

Researchers photoaged polystyrene microspheres under ultraviolet radiation for five weeks and then compared their toxicity to pristine microspheres in A549 human lung cells. They found that UV aging increased polar surface groups on the particles and produced more pronounced oxidative stress, cell cycle arrest, and morphological changes than pristine microspheres, with toxicity further shaped by particle size, dose, and exposure duration.

2022 Research Square (Research Square) 2 citations
Article Tier 2

PhotodegradationElevated the Toxicity of PolystyreneMicroplastics to Grouper (Epinephelus moara) throughDisrupting Hepatic Lipid Homeostasis

UV light exposure made polystyrene microplastics more toxic to juvenile fish than either fresh or commercial polystyrene microbeads. Photodegradation reduced particle size, created nanoplastics, and caused surface oxidation, all of which increased harm to fish — suggesting that environmental weathering of plastic pollution may make it more dangerous over time.

2020 Figshare 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Aged fragmented-polypropylene microplastics induced ageing statues-dependent bioenergetic imbalance and reductive stress: In vivo and liver organoids-based in vitro study

Researchers tested UV-aged polypropylene microplastics from everyday plastic cup lids on mice and lab-grown liver tissue, finding that more heavily aged particles caused greater liver damage. The aged microplastics disrupted energy production in liver cells and caused a harmful buildup of antioxidant molecules, suggesting that the weathered microplastics people encounter in daily life may be more toxic than pristine ones.

2024 Environment International 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Aging Processes Dramatically Alter the Protein Corona Constitution, Cellular Internalization, and Cytotoxicity of Polystyrene Nanoplastics

Researchers found that aging processes such as UV and ozone exposure dramatically alter how polystyrene nanoplastics interact with blood plasma proteins, form protein coronas, and enter cells. The study suggests that environmentally aged nanoplastics may have different biological effects than pristine particles, which has important implications for accurately assessing the health risks of real-world nanoplastic exposure.

2022 Environmental Science & Technology Letters 45 citations
Article Tier 2

Treatment of polyethylene microplastics degraded by ultraviolet light irradiation causes lysosome-deregulated cell death

Researchers found that polyethylene microplastics degraded by ultraviolet light were more toxic to cells than pristine microplastics, triggering a type of cell death linked to lysosome dysfunction. UV exposure changed the surface chemistry of the particles, making them more reactive and harmful to cellular structures. The study highlights that weathered microplastics in the environment may pose greater health risks than newly produced plastic particles.

2024 Scientific Reports 9 citations
Article Tier 2

UV-aged nanoplastics induced stronger biotoxicity to earthworms: Differential effects and the underlying mechanisms of pristine and aged polystyrene nanoplastics

Researchers compared the toxicity of pristine versus UV-aged polystyrene nanoplastics on earthworms and found that aged nanoplastics caused significantly stronger harmful effects. At higher concentrations, aged nanoplastics increased earthworm mortality by 11.1% and reduced reproduction, with the enhanced toxicity attributed to changes in surface properties that occur during environmental UV weathering.

2025 Environmental Pollution 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene nanoplastics potentiate the development of hepatic fibrosis in high fat diet fed mice

Researchers found that polystyrene nanoplastics worsened liver damage in mice fed a high-fat diet by increasing oxidative stress, inflammation, and the infiltration of immune cells in liver tissue. The nanoplastic exposure accelerated the progression from fatty liver to hepatic fibrosis in the diet-induced model. The study suggests that nanoplastic exposure may compound the health risks associated with metabolic conditions affecting the liver.

2021 Environmental Toxicology 71 citations
Article Tier 2

UV-B radiation aging changed the environmental behavior of polystyrene micro-/nanoplastics-adsorption kinetics of BDE-47, plankton toxicities and joint toxicities with BDE-47

Researchers examined how UV-B radiation aging changes the behavior and toxicity of polystyrene micro- and nanoplastics in marine environments. They found that 30 days of UV-B aging increased the surface roughness, hydrophobicity, and pollutant adsorption capacity of the particles, while also increasing their individual toxicity to marine plankton. The study suggests that environmentally aged microplastics may pose different and potentially greater ecological risks than pristine particles.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Hepatotoxic of polystyrene microplastics in aged mice: Focus on the role of gastrointestinal transformation and AMPK/FoxO pathway

This study found that polystyrene microplastics caused liver damage in aged mice, with the particles undergoing chemical changes as they passed through the digestive system that may have made them more harmful. The microplastics disrupted key metabolic pathways in the liver, triggered inflammation, and caused DNA damage through oxidative stress. The findings are especially concerning because older individuals may be more vulnerable to the liver-damaging effects of microplastic exposure.

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

A preliminary study about the potential risks of the UV-weathered microplastic: The proteome-level changes in the brain in response to polystyrene derived weathered microplastics

Researchers found that UV-weathered microplastics, which more closely resemble real-world plastic pollution, caused greater changes to brain proteins in mice than pristine microplastics. The weathered particles triggered alterations in proteins related to nerve signaling and cellular stress responses. This suggests that the microplastics people actually encounter in the environment may be more neurotoxic than the pristine particles typically used in lab studies.

2023 Environmental Research 38 citations
Article Tier 2

New Sight of Renal Toxicity Caused by UV‐Aged Polystyrene Nanoplastics: Induced Ferroptosis via Adsorption of Transferrin

Researchers discovered that polystyrene nanoplastics aged by sunlight caused more severe kidney damage in mice than fresh nanoplastics, triggering a type of cell death called ferroptosis. The sun-aged particles grabbed onto a blood protein called transferrin, which carries iron into cells, causing iron overload and cell damage in kidney tissue. This is concerning because most nanoplastics in the real world have been weathered by UV light, meaning they may be more harmful to human kidneys than laboratory studies using fresh plastics suggest.

2024 Small 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Photodegradation Elevated the Toxicity of Polystyrene Microplastics to Grouper (Epinephelus moara) through Disrupting Hepatic Lipid Homeostasis

Researchers compared the toxicity of pristine, UV-photodegraded, and commercial polystyrene microplastics in juvenile grouper fish. The study found that photodegradation significantly elevated the toxicity of microplastics by disrupting hepatic lipid homeostasis, suggesting that weathered microplastics in the environment may be more harmful than their pristine counterparts.

2020 Environmental Science & Technology 275 citations