Papers

61,005 results
|
Article Tier 2

Air pollution and its impacts on health: Focus on microplastics and nanoplastics

This review summarizes how airborne micro- and nanoplastics enter the body through breathing, eating, and skin contact, contributing to health risks alongside traditional air pollutants. Plastic particles have been found in human blood, vein tissues, and lungs, and their presence in fine particulate matter in urban air may worsen the inflammation, oxidative stress, and respiratory and heart disease risks already associated with air pollution.

2025 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Health Effects of Exposure to Environmental Pollutants

This review examines health effects of environmental pollutants, covering both traditional contaminants like particulate matter and heavy metals and emerging pollutants like nanoparticles and microplastics, synthesizing evidence that these diverse pollutants cause overlapping adverse health outcomes.

2025
Article Tier 2

An emerging class of air pollutants: Potential effects of microplastics to respiratory human health?

This review explores the emerging concern that airborne microplastics can be inhaled by humans, potentially causing adverse effects on the respiratory system. Researchers compiled available data on the concentration, size, shape, and chemical composition of microplastic particles found in urban air. The findings suggest that airborne plastic debris represents a largely understudied class of air pollutant with potential implications for human health.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 406 citations
Article Tier 2

Airborne microplastics and human health in urban environments

This review examines the sources, concentrations, and health impacts of airborne microplastics in urban environments across cities including Paris, London, Shanghai, and Delhi, covering respiratory inflammation, oxidative stress, and systemic toxicity associated with indoor and outdoor microplastic inhalation.

2025 Discover Public Health
Article Tier 2

Airborne Microplastics and its Impact to Environmental Health

This review compiles recent findings on airborne microplastics, examining their sources, transport pathways, and potential health effects. The study highlights that airborne microplastics can travel long distances through atmospheric currents, contaminating both urban and remote environments, and that inhalation may contribute to respiratory disorders, particularly among vulnerable populations.

2025 Water Air & Soil Pollution 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the urban atmosphere: Sources, occurrences, distribution, and potential health implications

This review summarizes research on airborne microplastics in cities, finding that indoor sources like textiles and outdoor sources like traffic-related plastic particles are major contributors. Microplastic concentrations in urban air can be significant, especially in densely populated areas, and people can inhale these particles daily. The health implications of breathing in microplastics are still being studied, but early evidence suggests they may cause lung inflammation and other respiratory problems.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 88 citations
Article Tier 2

A comprehensive review of urban microplastic pollution sources, environment and human health impacts, and regulatory efforts

This review pulls together research from 2010 to 2024 on how microplastics spread through cities via stormwater runoff, wastewater, and air, contaminating both water and soil. The authors highlight that people in urban areas are exposed to microplastics through ingestion, breathing, and skin contact, and call for stronger regulations and better waste management to protect public health.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 62 citations
Article Tier 2

Olumsuz Çevresel Faktörlerin Toplum Sağlığı Üzerine Etkileri (Hava-Su-Toprak Kirliliği)

This review examines how air, water, and soil pollution affect public health through a One Health framework, noting that environmental pollutants including microplastics and nanomaterials pose emerging risks. Researchers found that urbanization, industrialization, and climate change are intensifying environmental health threats, with vulnerable populations disproportionately affected. The study emphasizes the need for monitoring, early warning systems, and protective strategies to address deepening health inequalities.

2026
Systematic Review Tier 1

Systematic Review on Air Pollution and its Adverse Effects

This systematic review found that inhaled microplastics can penetrate deep into human tissues and release chemicals like bisphenol A and phthalates that cause cardiovascular, neurological, and immune system damage. Children face disproportionately higher risks because they breathe closer to the ground where microplastic concentrations are elevated, and their developing bodies are more sensitive to these contaminants. The review highlights airborne microplastics as a significant and underappreciated pathway of human exposure alongside dietary ingestion.

2021 International Journal of Zoological Investigations 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Synergistic effects of microplastics and bioaerosols: emerging trends in urban air pollution complexification and public health implications

This review examines the emerging synergistic health risks of airborne microplastics and bioaerosols in urban environments. Researchers found that microplastics can serve as carriers for bacteria, fungi, and viruses, potentially prolonging pathogen survival and increasing human exposure through inhalation. The combined exposure may amplify respiratory inflammation and oxidative stress beyond what either pollutant causes individually, highlighting a growing concern for urban public health.

2025 Environmental Research 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the Air and Their Associated Health Impacts

This review examines the presence of microplastics in air and their associated health impacts, summarizing evidence for airborne microplastic distribution globally, potential exposure routes including inhalation, and documented biological effects such as oxidative stress, cytotoxicity, immune disruption, and neurotoxicity.

2022 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of Environmental Pollution on Children’s Lung Health

This review synthesized evidence that environmental pollutants—including air pollution, heavy metals, and microplastics—significantly harm children's health, with even low-level exposure impairing fetal development, neurodevelopment, and respiratory function in young children.

2025 International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science
Article Tier 2

Atmospheric microplastics: exposure, toxicity, and detrimental health effects

This review summarizes what is known about microplastics in the air, including their sources, how they travel, and their effects on human health when inhaled or swallowed. Airborne microplastics come from synthetic textiles, road dust, construction materials, and industrial processes, and can trigger inflammation and oxidative stress in the lungs and other organs. The authors conclude that atmospheric microplastics represent an underappreciated route of human exposure that deserves more research and regulation.

2023 RSC Advances 95 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Air pollution and publications: historic and emerging trends in research topics - a bibliometric study

Scientists reviewed thousands of research papers to see what we're learning about air pollution and health. They found that researchers are discovering new health problems linked to dirty air, including kidney disease, brain disorders, diabetes, and pregnancy complications. However, there are still big knowledge gaps, especially about how tiny plastic particles in the air might affect our health.

2026 Environmental Research Health
Review Tier 2

Micro- and Nanoplastics as Emerging Environmental Determinants of Human Health: A Narrative Review

This narrative review explores evidence linking micro- and nanoplastic exposure to potential adverse health outcomes across multiple organ systems. Researchers found that increasing experimental and observational data suggest these particles may be associated with harmful biological effects. The review calls for further research to clarify the clinical significance of microplastic exposure for public health.

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

Microplastics in Airborne Particulate Matter: A Comprehensive Review of Separation Techniques, In Vitro Toxicity and Health Impacts

This review synthesized research on microplastics found in airborne particulate matter, covering separation techniques, in vitro toxicity studies, and potential health effects. The evidence indicates that inhaled microplastics from sources like tire wear, plastic debris degradation, and wind resuspension may compound the health risks already associated with particulate air pollution, particularly for respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes.

2025 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as an Emerging Source of Particulate Air Pollution

This review examines the growing body of research on airborne microplastics as a source of particulate air pollution, covering their sources, transport mechanisms, and presence in both indoor and outdoor environments. Researchers highlight that airborne microplastics can travel long distances and have been found in remote locations far from population centers. The study underscores significant gaps in our understanding of how inhaling these tiny plastic particles may affect human health.

2025 3 citations
Article Tier 2

The Invisible Threat: Investigating the Effects of Air Pollution on Human Health and the Environment

Not relevant to microplastics — this study investigates how air pollution (particulate matter PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide) affects human health in Depok, Indonesia, finding links to respiratory and cardiovascular disease.

2023 West Science Interdisciplinary Studies 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Airborne microplastics: Emerging threats and health implications for humans

This review synthesizes research on airborne microplastics as emerging human health hazards, covering their sources, atmospheric transport, inhalation and ingestion exposure pathways, and evidence of toxicological impacts on the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems.

2025 International Journal of Zoology and Applied Biosciences
Review Tier 2

Micro- and Nanoplastics as Emerging Environmental Determinants of Human Health: A Narrative Review

This narrative review explores the existing evidence linking micro- and nanoplastic exposure to potential health-related outcomes across multiple organ systems. Researchers found increasing experimental and observational evidence indicating that exposure to these particles may be associated with adverse biological effects. The review highlights the need for further clinical research to understand the full scope of microplastic impacts on human health.

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

The Effects of Negatıve Envıronmental Factors on Publıc Health (Aır, Water, And Soıl Pollutıon)

This study examined the effects of air, water, and soil pollution on public health within the One Health framework, with particular attention to emerging pollutants including microplastics. Researchers found that environmental contamination, including microplastic pollution in water and soil systems, contributes to a wide range of health outcomes affecting respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological systems.

2026
Article Tier 2

Micro- and nano-plastics (MNPs) in urban air: polymer composition, interactions and inhalation risk

Researchers characterized airborne micro- and nanoplastics in urban air using pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry on size-fractionated aerosol samples. The study found total concentrations averaging 0.6 micrograms per cubic meter, with tire wear particles as a dominant source, highlighting an underestimated threat to urban air quality and human respiratory health.

2025 1 citations
Article Tier 2

A comprehensive review of micro- and nano-plastics in the atmosphere: Occurrence, fate, toxicity, and strategies for risk reduction.

This review examines a decade of research on micro- and nano-plastics (MNPs) in the atmosphere, covering their occurrence in outdoor and indoor air, toxicological effects on human health, and strategies to reduce exposure risk from inhalation of airborne plastic particles.

2023 The Science of the total environment
Article Tier 2

Neurotoxic effects of exposure to air pollutants

This integrative literature review analyzed 20 studies (2020-2024) on how air pollutants including PM2.5, heavy metals, microplastics, and endocrine disruptors affect brain health and neurodevelopment. Evidence linked multiple air pollutants to neurological disorders, with microplastics emerging as a growing concern alongside established neurotoxicants.

2025 Brazilian Journal of Health Review