Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Impact of Microplastics on Human health: Time for us to get attentive- before it’s too late

This paper reviewed the growing evidence on microplastic impacts on human health, covering ingestion, inhalation, and dermal exposure routes, and the potential for microplastics to cause inflammation, oxidative stress, and endocrine disruption. The authors argue the problem demands urgent regulatory attention.

2024 Diabetes Asia Journal.
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

Microplastics - an emerging silent menace to public health

This mini-review summarizes how microplastics enter the human body through food, water, and air, and explores the range of potential health effects including inflammation, chemical toxicity, and immune disruption. Trophic transfer through the food chain is highlighted as a key pathway for microplastics to accumulate in human tissues.

2021 Life Sciences Medicine and Biomedicine 4 citations
Article Tier 2

An Investigation into the Environmental and Human Health Implications of Microplastic Toxicity

This review synthesizes evidence on how microplastics are distributed throughout the environment, the routes by which people are exposed (food, water, and air), and the health effects documented in experimental studies. The authors find significant links between microplastic exposure and adverse health outcomes and call for urgent regulatory action and more research into long-term human health risks.

2023 Social Science Humanities and Sustainability Research 1 citations
Article Tier 2

The Impact of Microplastic on Human Health

This review synthesized evidence on microplastic exposure pathways and health effects in humans, finding that microplastics enter the body via ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact and are associated with oxidative stress, inflammation, genotoxicity, and endocrine disruption.

2021 Current Biotechnology 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics: A Looming Threat to Human Life and Ecosystem

This review described microplastics as a pervasive environmental and health threat, covering sources, exposure pathways—ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact—and potential biological effects. The authors summarized evidence of microplastic accumulation in human tissues and called for coordinated international action to reduce plastic production and environmental release.

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

Microplastics: A Looming Threat to Human Life and Ecosystem

This review described microplastics as a pervasive environmental and health threat, covering sources, exposure pathways—ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact—and potential biological effects. The authors summarized evidence of microplastic accumulation in human tissues and called for coordinated international action to reduce plastic production and environmental release.

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

Microplastic Pollutants in Aquatic Ecosystems: Present and Future Challenges

This review synthesizes evidence on microplastics as a widespread and growing contaminant found across marine, freshwater, terrestrial, and atmospheric environments. Organisms at every level of the food chain ingest microplastics, which cause physical harm, oxidative stress, and reproductive disruption, while also acting as carriers for toxic chemicals and pathogens. For humans, exposure via contaminated food, water, and air is well-documented — microplastics have been found in blood and tissues — though direct causal health links are still being established, making further research a priority.

2023 Water 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Human exposure to microplastics: A review on exposure routes and public health impacts

This review examines how microplastics enter the human body through food, air, and skin contact and the health effects they can cause, including oxidative stress, inflammation, hormone disruption, and potential DNA damage. Despite growing evidence of harm, the exact routes plastics take through the body and the cellular mechanisms behind their effects are still not well understood, and there is an urgent need for standardized detection methods.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 37 citations
Article Tier 2

The Hidden Health Crisis: Microplastics and Their Medical Consequences

This review summarizes what is known about how microplastics enter the human body through food, water, and air, and the health problems they may cause. Microplastics can carry toxic chemicals like heavy metals and endocrine disruptors, and their physical presence in tissues has been linked to inflammation. The authors stress that doctors should consider microplastic exposure when evaluating chronic conditions, and call for stronger regulations to reduce plastic pollution.

2024 Journal of Education Health and Sport 13 citations
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

Microplastic exposure and human health: an integrative toxicological perspective

This review takes an integrative toxicological perspective on how microplastic exposure may affect human health, examining exposure routes through food, water, and air. Researchers summarize evidence that microplastics' small size, durability, and surface reactivity enable them to adsorb heavy metals, form biofilms, and enter food chains. The study highlights that while evidence of harm is growing, significant gaps remain in understanding the long-term health implications of chronic microplastic exposure.

2026 3 Biotech
Review Tier 2

Potential Health Impact of Microplastics: A Review of Environmental Distribution, Human Exposure, and Toxic Effects

This review summarizes existing research on how microplastics are found throughout the environment and in human samples, entering the body through food, air, and skin contact. Lab studies in cells and animals show microplastics can cause oxidative stress, DNA damage, immune reactions, brain toxicity, and reproductive harm, and early human health data links microplastic exposure to several chronic diseases.

2023 Environment & Health 519 citations
Review Tier 2

Microplastics and Human Health: A Comprehensive Review on Exposure Pathways, Toxicity, and Emerging Risks

This comprehensive review examines microplastic exposure pathways in humans, methods of detection, and the potential toxic effects on various biological systems. The study highlights growing evidence that microplastics can enter the body through ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact, and may affect multiple organ systems, though significant uncertainties remain about long-term health outcomes.

2026 Microplastics
Article Tier 2

Unseen Hazards—Toxicological Effects and Human Health Impacts of Nanoplastics and Microplastics

This review covers the toxicological effects of microplastics and nanoplastics in humans, examining exposure routes (oral, inhalation, dermal), tissue distribution, and mechanisms of harm including oxidative stress, inflammation, and endocrine disruption. It emphasises the importance of particle size, polymer type, and adsorbed chemical additives in determining toxicity.

2025 Applied Sciences
Article Tier 2

The potential effects of microplastics on human health: What is known and what is unknown

This review summarizes what is currently known about how microplastics might affect human health, noting that while contamination is widespread in food, water, and air, direct evidence of harm in humans is still limited. Studies in animals and cell cultures suggest microplastics could trigger immune responses, cause inflammation, and affect reproduction and development. The authors call for more rigorous clinical studies to determine whether the levels of microplastics that people actually encounter pose real health risks.

2021 AMBIO 419 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Impact of Microplastics on Global Public Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis pools data from multiple studies to assess how microplastics affect human health. It finds that people are widely exposed through contaminated food, water, and air, and that animal studies link microplastics to oxidative stress, immune disruption, and hormone interference. However, direct human health effects still need more long-term research to confirm.

2025 Preprints.org
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
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Pollution as an Invisible Potential Threat to Food Safety and Security, Policy Challenges and the Way Forward

This review synthesized studies from 1999 to 2020 on microplastics in aquatic ecosystems and human food products, documenting toxic effects from animal studies and identifying major policy gaps in plastic use and disposal regulation, particularly regarding human health risk assessment.

2020 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 95 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics - an emerging silent menace to public health

This mini-review summarises routes of microplastic entry into the human body and examines potential health effects, highlighting trophic transfer as an important exposure pathway and noting that the full extent of microplastic toxicity to human health remains an active area of concern.

2021 Life Sciences Medicine and Biomedicine 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Health implications of microplastic exposure and sustainable solutions

This review explores the various pathways by which microplastics contaminate aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems through human activities, and how they accumulate in the food chain. Researchers summarize the health implications of microplastic exposure through mechanisms like oxidative stress, gut microbiome disruption, and inflammation. The study emphasizes the need for standardized detection methods and stronger regulatory frameworks to address microplastic contamination in the human food supply.

2026 Environmental Sciences Europe
Article Tier 2

Exposure routes of microplastics (MPs) to humans and possible risks of MPs to human health from food and the environment: a short review

This review summarizes how microplastics reach humans through food, water, and air, and discusses their potential health effects. Researchers found that seafood, drinking water, and airborne dust are the primary exposure routes, with microplastics carrying additional chemical contaminants that may amplify their harm. The study emphasizes the need for more research into the long-term health consequences of chronic microplastic exposure in humans.

2024 Journal of Food Safety and Hygiene 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Beyond Pollution: Microplastics as an Emerging Health Hazard

This review examined the growing body of evidence linking microplastic exposure—via ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact—to human health effects, covering accumulation in organs and potential contributions to inflammation, endocrine disruption, and toxicant delivery. The authors concluded that the combination of long-term biosphere persistence and rising yearly emissions makes microplastics an emerging health hazard deserving stronger regulatory attention.

2025 Albus Scientia
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the Environment: Intake through the Food Web, Human Exposure and Toxicological Effects

This review summarizes how microplastics enter the human body through food, water, air, and even products like honey, milk, and meat. Humans are exposed mainly through inhalation and ingestion, and lab studies show that high concentrations of microplastics can trigger inflammation, immune responses, and reproductive problems in animal models. More research is needed to understand the health effects of the lower levels of microplastics that people actually encounter in daily life.

2021 Toxics 311 citations