Papers

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Article Tier 2

Neurotoxicity induced by aged microplastics from plastic bowls: Abnormal neurotransmission in Caenorhabditis elegans

Researchers found that microplastics released from aged plastic bowls caused nerve damage in the roundworm C. elegans at environmentally realistic concentrations. The aged microplastics disrupted neurotransmitter systems including dopamine and serotonin, leading to impaired movement. This study is concerning because it shows that everyday plastic items we use for food can release microplastics that have neurotoxic effects.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Neuronal damage induced by nanopolystyrene particles in nematodeCaenorhabditis elegans

C. elegans nematodes were chronically exposed to nanopolystyrene particles and found to develop neuronal damage affecting both development and function of the nervous system after long-term exposure at environmentally relevant concentrations. The study provides early evidence that nanoplastics can cause neurological harm in an animal model, raising questions about potential neurotoxicity in other species.

2019 Environmental Science Nano 99 citations
Article Tier 2

Behavioral and molecular neurotoxicity of thermally degraded polystyrene in Caenorhabditis elegans

This study found that thermally degraded polystyrene, the kind created when plastic is burned or heated, was significantly more toxic to the nervous system than fresh polystyrene in laboratory worms. The heat-altered plastic caused damage to multiple types of neurons and reduced levels of key brain chemicals like dopamine and serotonin. This is concerning because burned or heated plastic waste is common in the environment, and these findings suggest it may pose greater neurological risks than previously recognized.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene (nano)microplastics cause size-dependent neurotoxicity, oxidative damage and other adverse effects inCaenorhabditis elegans

Researchers found that polystyrene micro- and nanoplastics cause neurotoxicity and oxidative damage in the model organism C. elegans, with effects varying by particle size. Smaller nanoscale particles tended to cause more severe toxic responses than larger microplastic particles. The study highlights that the size of plastic particles is an important factor in determining how harmful they are to living organisms.

2018 Environmental Science Nano 422 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmentally persistent free radicals on photoaged nanopolystyrene induce neurotoxicity by affecting dopamine, glutamate, serotonin and GABA in Caenorhabditis elegans

Researchers found that when polystyrene nanoplastics age under sunlight, they generate environmentally persistent free radicals on their surface that make them significantly more toxic to the nervous system. Using the model organism C. elegans, they showed that aged nanoplastics disrupted movement and reduced levels of key neurotransmitters including dopamine, serotonin, and GABA. The study suggests that weathered nanoplastics in the environment may pose greater neurological risks than freshly produced particles.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Response of tyramine and glutamate related signals to nanoplastic exposure in Caenorhabditis elegans

Researchers exposed Caenorhabditis elegans to nanopolystyrene and characterized changes in tyramine and glutamate neurotransmitter pathways, finding that nanoplastic exposure disrupted both signaling systems and that mutations in these pathways altered the worm's sensitivity to nanoplastic toxicity.

2021 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 39 citations
Article Tier 2

Exposure to nanopolystyrene and its 4 chemically modified derivatives at predicted environmental concentrations causes differently regulatory mechanisms in nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Researchers found that nanopolystyrene and four chemically modified derivatives caused distinct toxicity patterns in C. elegans nematodes at environmentally predicted concentrations, with surface chemistry significantly influencing the regulatory mechanisms affected.

2022 Chemosphere 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Chronic exposure to UV-aged microplastics induces neurotoxicity by affecting dopamine, glutamate, and serotonin neurotransmission in Caenorhabditis elegans

Researchers found that UV-aged microplastics caused more severe neurotoxic effects than pristine microplastics when worms were chronically exposed to low concentrations. The aged particles disrupted dopamine, glutamate, and serotonin signaling pathways and caused visible neurodegeneration in the test organisms. The study suggests that microplastics become more harmful as they weather in the environment, which is an important consideration for assessing real-world exposure risks.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 112 citations
Article Tier 2

Biochemical and physiological effects of multigenerational exposure to spheric polystyrene microplastics in Caenorhabditis elegans

Researchers found that multigenerational exposure of C. elegans to polystyrene microplastics at low concentrations triggered oxidative stress, increased detoxification enzyme activity, and caused accumulating physiological effects across five consecutive generations.

2023 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Comparison of transgenerational reproductive toxicity induced by pristine and amino modified nanoplastics in Caenorhabditis elegans

Researchers compared transgenerational toxicity of pristine and amino-modified polystyrene nanoplastics in C. elegans, finding that the amino-modified (NPS-NH₂) variant caused reproductive toxicity and gonad damage at 10-fold lower concentrations than unmodified NPS and had more severe cross-generational effects.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 94 citations
Article Tier 2

Different Toxic Effects of Polystyrene Microplastics and Nanoplastics on Caenorhabditis elegans

Researchers compared the toxicity of 2-μm polystyrene microplastics and 0.1-μm nanoplastics in C. elegans, finding both impaired growth, locomotion, reproduction, and lifespan at 1 mg/L and above, with microplastics causing greater locomotion and reproductive toxicity and nanoplastics inducing stronger oxidative stress.

2025 Journal of Applied Toxicology
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) toxicity induced oxidative stress and intestinal injury in nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Researchers exposed the nematode C. elegans to various concentrations of polystyrene microplastics and measured physiological, biochemical, and molecular responses. The study found that microplastics accumulated in the intestine and caused oxidative stress, intestinal injury, and adverse physiological effects at concentrations as low as 1 microgram per liter, suggesting that even low-level microplastic exposure can damage gut tissues.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 201 citations
Article Tier 2

Neurodevelopmental Toxicity of Polystyrene Nanoplastics inCaenorhabditis elegansand the Regulating Effect of Presenilin

C. elegans exposed to 25, 50, and 100 nm polystyrene nanoplastics showed size-dependent neurodevelopmental toxicity — including reactive oxygen species generation, mitochondrial damage, and inhibited dopamine production — with smaller particles (25 nm) paradoxically showing weaker effects than the 50 nm size.

2020 ACS Omega 64 citations
Article Tier 2

Photoaged microplastics induce neurotoxicity associated with damage to serotonergic, glutamatergic, dopaminergic, and GABAergic neuronal systems in Caenorhabditis elegans

Researchers found that sunlight-aged microplastics caused more severe brain and nerve damage than fresh microplastics in lab worms, disrupting four major neurotransmitter systems: serotonin, glutamate, dopamine, and GABA. Even at very low, environmentally realistic concentrations, the aged particles impaired movement and altered gene expression related to nerve signaling. Since most microplastics in the real world have been weathered by sunlight, this study suggests that the neurotoxic risks of environmental microplastic exposure may be greater than studies using pristine particles indicate.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 40 citations
Article Tier 2

A Multisystemic Approach Revealed Aminated Polystyrene Nanoparticles-Induced Neurotoxicity.

Aminated polystyrene nanoparticles caused neurotoxicity in multiple model systems, including effects on neuronal cell viability, oxidative stress markers, and behavioral changes in exposed organisms, demonstrating that surface charge of nanoplastics influences their capacity to damage nervous tissue.

2024 Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)
Article Tier 2

Exploring the mechanisms of neurotoxic effects from combined exposure to polystyrene and microcystin-LR in Caenorhabditis elegans

Researchers studied the combined neurotoxic effects of polystyrene microplastics and the cyanotoxin microcystin-LR in an animal model, finding synergistic damage to brain tissue through oxidative stress and neuroinflammation pathways beyond what either contaminant caused alone.

2025 Aquatic Toxicology
Article Tier 2

Environmentally relevant concentrations of polystyrene nanoplastics induce Parkinson’s-like neurotoxicity in C. elegans via oxidative stress

Researchers exposed roundworms to environmentally realistic concentrations of polystyrene nanoplastics and observed movement problems and brain changes resembling Parkinson's disease. The nanoplastics selectively damaged dopamine-producing neurons and increased toxic protein clumping through oxidative stress, and when an antioxidant treatment was applied, it partially reversed the harmful effects.

2025 Environment International 3 citations
Article Tier 2

The toxic differentiation of micro- and nanoplastics verified by gene-edited fluorescent Caenorhabditis elegans

Researchers used gene-edited fluorescent C. elegans to demonstrate that nanoplastic toxicity is size- and charge-dependent, with 100 nm positively charged polystyrene particles causing the greatest harm through intestinal accumulation and oxidative stress.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Transgenerational neurotoxicity of polystyrene microplastics induced by oxidative stress in Caenorhabditis elegans

Researchers exposed the roundworm C. elegans to polystyrene microplastics and tracked the effects across five generations. They found that microplastic exposure caused nerve damage and oxidative stress that persisted in offspring even when those generations were not directly exposed, suggesting microplastics can have lasting effects passed down through generations.

2021 Chemosphere 105 citations
Article Tier 2

UV-aged microplastics induces neurotoxicity by affecting the neurotransmission in larval zebrafish

Researchers compared the neurotoxic effects of fresh versus UV-aged polystyrene microplastics on zebrafish larvae. They found that aged microplastics caused more severe behavioral changes and significantly altered levels of key brain chemicals including dopamine, serotonin, and acetylcholine. The study demonstrates that environmental weathering makes microplastics more neurotoxic, which is an important consideration for assessing the real-world risks of plastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems.

2023 Chemosphere 44 citations
Article Tier 2

Sulfate-modified nanosized polystyrene impairs memory by inhibiting ionotropic glutamate receptors and the cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans

Researchers found that sulfate-modified polystyrene nanoplastics impair both short- and long-term associative memory in C. elegans by downregulating ionotropic glutamate receptors and the CREB signaling pathway — conserved molecular mechanisms that also underlie learning and memory in mammals — raising concerns about nanoplastic effects on cognition.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Photoaged Nanopolystyrene Affects Neurotransmission to Induce Transgenerational Neurotoxicity in Caenorhabditis elegans

When tiny roundworms were exposed to sunlight-aged nanoplastics, their offspring showed movement problems and damaged nerve cells for up to two generations, even without further exposure. The aged nanoplastics were more harmful than fresh ones and worked by disrupting key brain chemicals like dopamine and serotonin, suggesting that weathered plastic particles in the environment may pose greater risks to nervous system health across generations.

2024 Environmental Science & Technology 23 citations
Article Tier 2

The role of Sod-2 in different types of neuronal damage and behavioral changes induced by polystyrene nanoplastics in Caenorhabditis elegans

Researchers used the roundworm C. elegans to study how polystyrene nanoplastics damage the nervous system at concentrations found in agricultural soils. They found that the nanoplastics caused nerve damage in a specific order, first affecting dopamine neurons, then acetylcholine neurons, and finally GABA neurons, through a process involving oxidative stress and reduced antioxidant protein levels. The study identifies a specific cellular pathway through which nanoplastics cause neurotoxic effects, and shows that a mitochondrial antioxidant could help alleviate the damage.

2024 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 9 citations
Article Tier 2

The plastic brain: neurotoxicity of micro- and nanoplastics

This review examines the emerging evidence that micro- and nanoplastics can reach the brain in both aquatic animals and mammals, potentially causing neurotoxic effects. Researchers found that exposure to these particles induces oxidative stress, inhibits key enzymes involved in nerve signaling, and alters neurotransmitter levels, which may contribute to behavioral changes. The study highlights that systematic research comparing different particle types, sizes, and exposure conditions is urgently needed to understand the neurological risks.

2020 Particle and Fibre Toxicology 691 citations