Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Lung hazards of microplastics and their toxicological mechanisms

This review summarizes eight key mechanisms by which microplastics cause lung injury, including oxidative stress, inflammation, DNA damage, and disruption of the immune response. Researchers explain how the small size and large surface area of microplastics allow them to evade respiratory clearance and deposit deep in lung tissue. The study provides a comprehensive framework for understanding how inhaled microplastics may contribute to respiratory health problems.

2025 Environmental Pollution 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Respiratory Toxicity of Microplastics: Mechanisms, Clinical Outcomes, and Future Threats

This review examined the mechanisms by which inhaled airborne microplastics cause respiratory harm, including inflammation, oxidative stress, fibrosis, and impaired mucociliary clearance. The authors also discuss emerging evidence linking microplastic inhalation to worsening asthma, COPD, and potentially lung cancer.

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

Airborne microplastics: A narrative review of potential effects on the human respiratory system

This review consolidates research on airborne microplastics and their potential effects on the human respiratory system. Studies show that inhaled microplastics can deposit in the lungs, trigger inflammation, cause oxidative stress, and lead to cell damage and death. While human exposure evidence is still limited, animal and cell studies suggest that long-term inhalation of airborne microplastics could pose significant risks to lung health.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 80 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics, potential threat to patients with lung diseases

This review examines the potential threat that airborne microplastics pose to people with existing lung conditions, noting that these particles have been found in human lung tissue and sputum. Researchers explored possible mechanisms by which inhaled microplastics could worsen lung diseases, including triggering inflammation and oxidative stress. The study highlights significant knowledge gaps and calls for more research into how microplastic inhalation affects respiratory health.

2022 Frontiers in Toxicology 119 citations
Article Tier 2

Immunotoxicity by Microplastics

This review examines how microplastics and nanoplastics, after entering the body through the gut, lungs, or skin, can disrupt the immune system by triggering inflammation, causing oxidative stress (cellular damage from unstable molecules), and impairing immune cell function, while highlighting major gaps in our understanding of these long-term health effects.

2025 International Journal of Zoological Investigations
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

Deleterious effects of microplastics and nanoplastics on rodent lungs: a systematic review

This systematic review summarizes research on how inhaled micro- and nanoplastics affect the lungs in animal studies. The findings show these particles can cause lung inflammation, tissue damage, and immune responses, suggesting that breathing in airborne microplastics may pose real risks to respiratory health.

2025
Article Tier 2

Detrimental effects of microplastic exposure on normal and asthmatic pulmonary physiology

Researchers exposed both healthy and asthmatic mice to airborne microplastics and found significant lung inflammation, immune activation, and increased mucus production in both groups. Microplastic particles were taken up by immune cells called macrophages, and gene analysis revealed changes in immune response, cellular stress, and cell death pathways. The study suggests that inhaling microplastics may worsen respiratory health in both normal and vulnerable populations.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 207 citations
Review Tier 2

Microplastics Exposure Impact on Lung Cancer—Literature Review

This review examines the relationship between micro- and nanoplastic exposure and lung cancer development, summarizing evidence that these particles can enter the respiratory system through inhaled air, contaminated food, and other pathways. Researchers found that microplastics may promote inflammatory and oxidative processes in lung tissue that are associated with cancer progression. The study suggests that chronic microplastic exposure warrants consideration as a potential contributing factor in lung cancer research.

2025 Cancers 1 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Air Pollution Microplastics with the Potential Risk of Lung Disease: A Systematic Review

This systematic review of 20 studies found that airborne microplastics, present in both indoor and outdoor air, can reach deep into the lungs when inhaled. Their accumulation in lung tissue may cause oxidative stress, inflammation, and damage to the lung's protective lining, raising concerns about respiratory diseases from chronic exposure to plastic-contaminated air.

2025 Journal of Environmental Health and Sustainable Development
Article Tier 2

Breathing under siege: a narrative review on the potential biological mechanisms linking micro- and nanoplastic exposure to lung diseases

This narrative review examines how inhaled micro- and nanoplastics from indoor and outdoor air — including from synthetic textiles and face masks — can trigger lung inflammation, oxidative stress, and fibrosis, and outlines proposed mechanisms linking plastic inhalation to respiratory disease.

2025 Journal of Breath Research
Article Tier 2

Effect of microplastics deposition on human lung airways: A review with computational benefits and challenges

This review examines how microplastics deposited in human lungs can cause inflammation, oxidative stress, and reduced lung function. Because these tiny particles can reach deep into the lungs where oxygen enters the blood, they raise concerns about long-term respiratory disease and the possibility of spreading to other organs.

2024 Heliyon 126 citations
Article Tier 2

Respiratory Toxicity of Microplastics: Mechanisms, Clinical Outcomes, and Future Threats

This review summarized the respiratory toxicity of airborne microplastics, covering their sources, the routes by which they penetrate deep into lung tissue, and the range of clinical outcomes from chronic inflammation to potential malignancy. The authors warn that inhalation exposure represents an underappreciated and growing public health threat.

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

Inhaled Microplastics Inhibit Tissue Maintenance Functions of Pulmonary Macrophages

Researchers found that inhaled microplastics accumulate in lung macrophages, the immune cells responsible for cleaning and maintaining lung tissue, and significantly impair their normal functions. The microplastic-laden macrophages showed reduced ability to perform tissue maintenance tasks that are essential for lung health. The study provides evidence that breathing in microplastics could compromise the lung's built-in defense and repair systems, with potential implications for respiratory health.

2025 American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 2 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
Systematic Review Tier 1

Microplastics inhalation and their effects on human health: a systematic review

This systematic review examines how breathing in microplastics affects human health. It finds that airborne microplastics can reach the lungs and may trigger inflammation, oxidative stress, and respiratory issues, with workers in textile and plastic industries facing the highest exposure levels.

2022 European Journal of Public Health 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as environmental modifiers of lung disease

This review examines growing evidence that inhaled microplastics may contribute to lung diseases including asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Researchers found that different plastic types, sizes, and weathering states can trigger inflammation, oxidative stress, and cellular changes in lung tissue, suggesting microplastics may act as environmental modifiers that worsen respiratory conditions.

2025 EMBO Molecular Medicine 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

Breathing plastics: Influence of airborne microplastics on the respiratory microbiome and health of human lungs (Review)

Researchers reviewed evidence showing that inhaled airborne microplastics can physically interact with the microbial community living in human lungs, disrupting its balance and triggering inflammation linked to conditions like asthma and fibrosis. Because microplastic particles have been found in lung tissue and fluid samples, inhalation is now recognized as a significant exposure route with measurable consequences for respiratory health.

2026 World Academy of Sciences Journal
Article Tier 2

In vivo toxicity assessment of microplastics in Balb/C mice : study of inhalation exposure and its inflammatory effects

Researchers examined the in vivo toxicity of inhaled microplastics in Balb/C mice, studying pulmonary inflammation, oxidative stress, and systemic effects following repeated inhalation exposure. The study found dose-dependent lung inflammation and evidence of particle translocation to other organs.

2024 Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (Universidade de São Paulo)
Article Tier 2

Mitochondrial stress response in lung cells triggered by the inhaled nanoplastics

This review focuses on how inhaled nanoplastic particles affect mitochondrial function in lung cells, including the activation of stress responses, disruption of energy production, and triggering of cell death pathways. Researchers found that because of their extremely small size, nanoplastics can penetrate deep into lung tissue and interact directly with cellular components in ways larger particles cannot. The study highlights the lungs as a particularly vulnerable site for nanoplastic-related health effects.

2025 Archives of Toxicology 3 citations
Article Tier 2

The Mitochondrial Battleground: A Review of Microplastic-Induced Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Pathways in Human Health

This review synthesizes research on how microplastics damage mitochondria through oxidative stress and inflammation across aquatic, terrestrial, and mammalian systems. Researchers found that microplastics generate reactive oxygen species that disrupt mitochondrial function, with smaller and aged particles causing greater toxicity, while inflammatory signaling creates a feedback loop that worsens cellular damage.

2026 Microplastics
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as an Emerging Human Health Risk: Mechanisms, Exposure, and Clinical Evidence

This review examines the growing body of evidence on how microplastics enter the human body through ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact, and have now been detected in blood, lung tissue, placenta, and cardiovascular tissue. Evidence indicates that microplastics may cause harm through oxidative stress, inflammation, and cellular damage, though a direct causal link to specific health conditions has not yet been fully established.

2026 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as an Emerging Human Health Risk: Mechanisms, Exposure, and Clinical Evidence

This review examines the growing body of evidence on how microplastics enter the human body through ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact, and have now been detected in blood, lung tissue, placenta, and cardiovascular tissue. Evidence indicates that microplastics may cause harm through oxidative stress, inflammation, and cellular damage, though a direct causal link to specific health conditions has not yet been fully established.

2026 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)