Papers

61,005 results
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Review Tier 2

A review on microplastics and nanoplastics in the environment: Their occurrence, exposure routes, toxic studies, and potential effects on human health

This review summarizes what is known about how microplastics and nanoplastics enter the human body through food, air, and skin contact, and what they do once inside. Studies on cells and animals show these tiny particles can cause oxidative stress, DNA damage, inflammation, and harm to the immune, digestive, reproductive, and nervous systems. The research makes clear that microplastics are not just an environmental problem but a direct concern for human health.

2022 Marine Pollution Bulletin 379 citations
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
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

Animal exposure to microplastics and health effects: A review

Researchers reviewed how microplastic exposure affects animals across terrestrial and aquatic environments, finding that species suffer physical harm, chemical contamination from pollutants that stick to plastic surfaces, inflammation, and behavioral changes. Because microplastics accumulate up the food chain, the review warns that animals entering the human food supply may carry these particles into our bodies.

2024 Emerging contaminants 117 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Assessing the Impact of Nanoplastics in Biological Systems: Systematic Review of In Vitro Animal Studies

This systematic review of lab studies found that nanoplastics can damage cells in the gut, lungs, liver, brain, and reproductive organs of animals. These ultra-small plastic particles appear capable of crossing biological barriers and causing inflammation and oxidative stress, raising concerns about similar effects in humans.

2025 Journal of Xenobiotics 10 citations
Review Tier 2

Advances on micro/nanoplastics and their effects on the living organisms: A review

This review examines the current state of research on how micro- and nanoplastics affect plants, animals, microorganisms, and humans. Researchers found that these tiny plastic particles can cause oxidative stress, inflammation, reproductive problems, and disruption of gut microbiomes across a wide range of species. The study highlights that while significant progress has been made in understanding these effects, major gaps remain in assessing long-term exposure risks at realistic environmental concentrations.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic and nanoplastic transfer, accumulation, and toxicity in humans

Researchers reviewed human exposure routes to micro- and nanoplastics — via air, water, and food — and summarized reported toxicological outcomes, identifying ingestion and inhalation as primary entry points and flagging oxidative stress, inflammation, and endocrine disruption as key health concerns warranting further study.

2021 Current Opinion in Toxicology 72 citations
Article Tier 2

Mechanistic insight into potential toxic effects of microplastics and nanoplastics on human health

This review summarizes how microplastics and nanoplastics enter the body through breathing, eating, and skin contact, then travel through the bloodstream to deposit in organs. Studies show they can cause oxidative stress, inflammation, immune dysfunction, genetic damage, developmental abnormalities, and potentially cancer, though most evidence comes from cell and animal studies rather than human research.

2025 Discover Applied Sciences 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent advances in toxicological research and potential health impact of microplastics and nanoplastics in vivo

This review summarizes the growing body of research on how micro- and nanoplastics affect living organisms, covering impacts from physical tissue damage and gut disruption to reproductive harm and immune system interference. Researchers found that these tiny particles can also act as carriers for heavy metals, toxic chemicals, and pathogens, potentially amplifying their harmful effects. The evidence indicates that microplastics may move up the food chain and ultimately reach humans, though the full extent of health risks remains under investigation.

2022 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 117 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro-plastics: An invisible danger to human health

This review examined microplastics as invisible but pervasive threats to human health, summarizing exposure routes via air, water, and food, and reviewing evidence from animal studies linking microplastic exposure to inflammation, oxidative stress, endocrine disruption, and reproductive harm, while calling for urgent human epidemiological research.

2021 CGC International Journal of Contemporary Technology and Research 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Human Exposure to Microplastics and Its Associated Health Risks

This review examines how microplastics enter the human body through food, air, and skin, and have been detected in stool, blood, and tissues. Research in lab animals and human cells shows that microplastics can disrupt digestion, immunity, the nervous system, and reproduction, and can also amplify the toxicity of other environmental pollutants they carry.

2023 Environment & Health 209 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 comprehensive review on the source, ingestion route, attachment and toxicity of microplastics/nanoplastics in human systems

This review summarizes how microplastics and nanoplastics enter the human body through eating, breathing, and skin contact, then spread to organs throughout all nine major body systems. The particles cause harm mainly through oxidative stress, inflammation, and disrupted metabolism, with the digestive and respiratory systems being most affected since they are the primary entry points.

2024 Journal of Environmental Management 89 citations
Article Tier 2

Biotransport and toxic effects of micro- and nanoplastics in fish model and their potential risk to humans: A review

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics enter fish through ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact, causing damage to multiple organ systems including the brain, heart, and reproductive organs. The particles trigger harmful cellular responses such as oxidative stress, DNA damage, and mitochondrial dysfunction. The study emphasizes that these pollutants can also reach humans through the food chain, highlighting the need for strategies to reduce plastic contamination in aquatic environments.

2024 Aquatic Toxicology 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastics and their additives reached the blood and tissue spaces: what are the possible consequences?

This review examines how microplastics and their chemical additives reach human blood and tissue spaces and discusses the potential health consequences of this exposure. The authors synthesize evidence on pathways by which microplastics enter biological systems via food chains and direct environmental exposure, and assess the range of health effects being documented in humans and animals, noting the field is still relatively new with serious to very serious impacts being identified.

2022 Exploratory Animal and Medical Research 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Vertebrate response to microplastics, nanoplastics and co-exposed contaminants: Assessing accumulation, toxicity, behaviour, physiology, and molecular changes

This review summarizes research on how microplastics and nanoplastics affect vertebrate animals, finding that these particles can cross biological barriers, accumulate in organs including the brain, and cause oxidative stress, inflammation, and behavioral changes. A major concern highlighted is transgenerational harm, where toxic effects appear in offspring that were never directly exposed. The review underscores the need for more research on long-term, low-dose exposure that mirrors real-world human conditions.

2024 Toxicology Letters 11 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
Article Tier 2

Exploring toxicological pathways of microplastics and nanoplastics: Insights from animal and cellular models

This review examines what animal and cell studies have revealed about how microplastics and nanoplastics cause harm at the molecular level, including promoting inflammation, oxidative stress, and cell death. Most research has focused on reproductive toxicity and polystyrene particles, while effects on the gut, brain, and heart remain understudied. The authors note that many experiments use unrealistic concentrations and synthetic particles, making it difficult to apply the results to real-world human exposure.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 31 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of Nanoplastics on Different Biological Systems

This review examines how nanoplastics affect multiple biological systems — including digestive, reproductive, nervous, and immune systems — synthesizing evidence that nanoplastics cross biological barriers and cause oxidative stress, inflammation, and physiological dysfunction across species.

2025 Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental
Article Tier 2

Ecotoxicological Impacts of Micro and Nanoplastics on Marine Fauna

This review examines the ecotoxicological impacts of micro- and nanoplastics on marine fauna, detailing how these particles enter food chains through ingestion, accumulate across trophic levels, and cause physical and chemical harm including oxidative stress, inflammation, reproductive disruption, and mortality. The authors highlight the compounding threat when plastics act as vectors for adsorbed pollutants.

2020 Examines in Marine Biology & Oceanography 17 citations
Article Tier 2

From Environment to Body: Microplastics' Sources, Pathways, and Health Repercussions

This systematic review provides a comprehensive overview of how microplastics enter the human body through food, water, air, and skin contact. Researchers found evidence that these particles may cause physical damage, chemical toxicity, inflammation, and oxidative stress in biological systems. The study highlights significant gaps in understanding the long-term health implications of chronic microplastic exposure in humans.

2024 Journal of Education Health and Sport 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Health Implications of Widespread Micro- and Nanoplastic Exposure: Environmental Prevalence, Mechanisms, and Biological Impact on Humans

This review summarizes how microplastics and nanoplastics enter the human body through food, air, and skin contact, then travel through the bloodstream to accumulate in various organs. Health effects range from immediate problems like pain and inflammation to long-term conditions including infertility, chronic lung disease, and potentially cancer, though the exact concentrations that build up in the body and the full extent of harm are still being studied.

2024 Toxics 20 citations
Article Tier 2

From food-to-human microplastics and nanoplastics exposure and health effects: A review on food, animal and human monitoring data

This review summarizes existing research on how microplastics and nanoplastics move from food into animal and human tissues, and what health effects they may cause. Studies show these particles have been found accumulating in organs including the liver, lungs, placenta, and blood, with their size and chemical properties determining where they end up in the body. The authors stress the need for standardized testing methods and human biomonitoring to better understand the real health burden of microplastics in our food supply.

2024 Food and Chemical Toxicology 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Cellular and Systemic Effects of Micro- and Nanoplastics in Mammals—What We Know So Far

This review summarized known cellular and systemic effects of micro- and nanoplastics in mammals, finding that while ingestion is common, knowledge of health impacts remains limited, with oxidative stress and inflammation as the most reported biological responses.

2023 Materials 13 citations