Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Risks Associated with the Presence of PVC in the Environment and Methods of Its Elimination

This review summarized the environmental risks posed by polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics, including the release of toxic additives and microplastic formation during degradation, and assessed current methods for its elimination from the environment.

2023 Preprints.org 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Risks Associated with the Presence of Polyvinyl Chloride in the Environment and Methods for Its Disposal and Utilization

This review examines the environmental and health risks of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), one of the most common plastics. As PVC breaks down into microplastics, it contaminates soil, water, and even drinking water, entering the food chain and exposing humans to harmful effects. The paper surveys methods being developed to clean up and remove PVC microplastics from the environment.

2023 Materials 87 citations
Article Tier 2

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), its additives, microplastic and human health: Unresolved and emerging issues

This paper examines PVC (polyvinyl chloride), one of the most commonly used plastics in Europe, and highlights that it fragments into microplastics more easily than other plastics and requires large amounts of potentially toxic chemical additives. The European Commission has recognized PVC's wide-ranging health and environmental problems, and the authors argue that human exposure to PVC microplastics and their chemical additives remains a serious unresolved public health concern.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental and health hazards of chemicals in plastic polymers and products

Researchers reviewed the environmental and health hazards of chemicals in plastic polymers and products, examining the toxicological profiles of monomers, additives, and degradation products that can leach from plastics into food, water, and the environment. The study identifies numerous plastic-associated chemicals with endocrine-disrupting, carcinogenic, or developmental toxicity potential and calls for more comprehensive safety testing of plastic formulations.

2011 Gothenburg University Publications Electronic Archive (Gothenburg University) 64 citations
Article Tier 2

Release of chemical additives and potentially toxic elements from plastics under ambient outdoor environmental conditions

Researchers placed large pieces of seven commercial plastic polymers outdoors under natural conditions for extended periods and measured the release of phthalates, phenolic compounds, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers, finding that realistic environmental conditions cause significant leaching of toxic chemical additives.

2025 Environmental Research
Article Tier 2

Plastics and Health

This paper discusses the health implications of plastic exposure, examining the growing body of evidence connecting plastics and their additives to human health outcomes.

2023 Journal of Midwifery & Women s Health 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Examination of plastic’s hazards to human health underway

This study examined the multiple health hazards that plastics pose to humans across their entire life cycle, from fossil fuel extraction used as feedstocks through everyday use and disposal, conducting a comprehensive interdisciplinary analysis of exposure pathways and associated health effects.

2022 C&EN Global Enterprise
Article Tier 2

Toxicity of plastic consumer products: a biological, chemical and social-ecological analysis

This study analyzed the toxic chemicals found in consumer plastic products, including additives, monomers, and processing by-products that can leach into food or the environment. The findings highlight that plastic toxicity extends beyond microplastic particles themselves — the chemicals embedded in plastics pose significant health risks through food packaging and environmental contamination.

2021
Article Tier 2

Assessing the environmental and health impacts of plastic production and recycling

This review summarizes how plastic production and recycling both contribute to pollution and health problems, noting that plastics contain chemical additives like phthalates and bisphenols linked to hormone disruption and reproductive issues. The authors highlight that even recycling generates some pollutants, and the growing accumulation of microplastics in food and water raises additional health concerns.

2024 World Journal of Biology Pharmacy and Health Sciences 66 citations
Article Tier 2

Polyvinyl chloride in consumer and environmental plastics, with a particular focus on metal-based additives

Researchers compared PVC distribution among consumer plastics in everyday use versus plastics found in marine, lake, and agricultural environments, analyzing metal-based additives in each. The study found that about 75% of both consumer and environmental PVC contained metal additives including barium and lead, and that PVC was underrepresented in environmental samples likely because it sinks in water and has long service lives in construction.

2021 Environmental Science Processes & Impacts 73 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics: research landscape, challenges, and remediation

This review synthesizes research on microplastic pollution sources, polymer types, and remediation strategies, identifying polyethylene, polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polyvinyl chloride as the most prevalent polymers and highlighting chemical additives such as phthalates as compounding environmental hazards.

2022 2 citations
Review Tier 2

A Detailed Review Study on Potential Effects of Microplastics and Additives of Concern on Human Health

This detailed review examines the potential health effects of microplastics and the chemical additives they contain, which can include plasticizers, flame retardants, and stabilizers. Researchers describe how humans are exposed to these hazardous chemicals through ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact as microplastics break down in the environment. The study emphasizes that the combination of physical particle effects and chemical toxicity makes microplastics a uniquely complex health concern.

2020 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 1763 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic additives and microplastics as emerging contaminants: Mechanisms and analytical assessment

Researchers reviewed how chemical additives mixed into plastics during manufacturing — including stabilizers, flame retardants, and plasticizers — can leach out throughout a plastic's lifecycle and pose risks to ecosystems and human health, with microplastics acting as carriers that concentrate and transport these hazardous chemicals.

2022 TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry 194 citations
Article Tier 2

Risk assessment of harmful types of plastics in the marine environment

This risk assessment evaluated the chemical hazards posed by residual additives and degradation products in seven types of microplastic particles found in the marine environment. The report identifies specific polymer types that pose the greatest risk to marine organisms through chemical leaching.

2019 Research Portal (King's College London) 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Polymer prioritization framework: A novel multi-criteria framework for source mapping and characterizing the environmental risk of plastic polymers

Researchers developed a multi-criteria framework for ranking the environmental risk of plastic polymers, finding that polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, and polystyrene posed the highest risk, with packaging and construction sectors as dominant sources.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Ranking of potential hazards from microplastics polymers in the marine environment

Researchers developed a model to rank which types of microplastic polymers pose the greatest health risk from marine exposure pathways, based on their chemical toxicity when broken down and their particle size. Polyurethane, PVC, and polyacrylonitrile ranked as the most hazardous, while the toxicity of the broken-down chemical components was the single biggest factor in determining risk. This ranking system could help policymakers prioritize which plastic types to regulate first to protect human health.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 222 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic Pollution and Its Effects on Human Health

This review examined how plastics enter the environment through poor disposal and fragmentation, then infiltrate food chains and human bodies via ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact. The authors summarized health risks from both microplastic particles and their associated chemical additives, calling for stronger global policy responses.

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

Plastic Pollution and Its Effects on Human Health

This review examined how plastics enter the environment through poor disposal and fragmentation, then infiltrate food chains and human bodies via ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact. The authors summarized health risks from both microplastic particles and their associated chemical additives, calling for stronger global policy responses.

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

Plastic and its Side Effects on Humans – A Review Article

This review examines the widespread use of plastics in daily life and their harmful side effects on human health, including the release of toxic chemicals like BPA and phthalates that act as endocrine disruptors and contribute to various diseases.

2023 Asian Pacific Journal of Environment and Cancer 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic Pollution and Its Effects on Human Health

This review examined how plastics enter the environment through poor disposal and fragmentation, then infiltrate food chains and human bodies via ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact. The authors summarized health risks from both microplastic particles and their associated chemical additives, calling for stronger global policy responses.

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

Plastic Pollution and Its Effects on Human Health

This review examined how plastics enter the environment through poor disposal and fragmentation, then infiltrate food chains and human bodies via ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact. The authors summarized health risks from both microplastic particles and their associated chemical additives, calling for stronger global policy responses.

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

Plastic and Microplastic Wastes as Environmental Toxicants

This review covers the environmental accumulation of plastics and microplastics and their toxic chemical additives — including phthalates, flame retardants, bisphenol A, heavy metals, and PCBs — documenting contamination from urban regions to remote ecosystems and food/water supplies.

2024 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Adverse Health Effects of Plastics

This review summarizes the adverse health effects associated with plastic exposure, including endocrine disruption, inflammation, and potential carcinogenicity from plastic additives and microplastic particles. It provides an accessible overview of mechanisms by which plastics can harm human health across multiple organ systems.

2020 International Journal of Global Science Research 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Micro- and Nano-plastics and Human Health

This review examines how everyday plastic items expose people to chemical additives, microplastics, and nanoplastics through eating, breathing, and skin contact, and summarizes the health risks associated with the most commonly encountered plastics. The authors argue that while research on environmental microplastic harm to human health is still limited, the scale of plastic production — projected to add 33 billion tonnes by 2050 — makes it an urgent public health concern.

2015 504 citations