Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Inhaled microplastics and lung health: Immunopathological effects and disease implications

This review examines the molecular mechanisms by which inhaled microplastics damage lung health, focusing on oxidative stress, inflammation, and immune disruption. Researchers found that microplastics trigger reactive oxygen species production, deplete antioxidants, impair mitochondrial function, and compromise immune defenses in lung tissue. The evidence indicates that microplastics may also act as carriers for other toxic pollutants, amplifying respiratory health risks.

2025 Food Bioscience 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Respiratory Toxicity of Microplastics: Mechanisms, Clinical Outcomes, and Future Threats

This review examined the mechanisms by which inhaled airborne microplastics cause respiratory harm, including inflammation, oxidative stress, fibrosis, and impaired mucociliary clearance. The authors also discuss emerging evidence linking microplastic inhalation to worsening asthma, COPD, and potentially lung cancer.

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

Respiratory Toxicity of Microplastics: Mechanisms, Clinical Outcomes, and Future Threats

This review summarized the respiratory toxicity of airborne microplastics, covering their sources, the routes by which they penetrate deep into lung tissue, and the range of clinical outcomes from chronic inflammation to potential malignancy. The authors warn that inhalation exposure represents an underappreciated and growing public health threat.

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

Microplastics Exposure Impact on Lung Cancer—Literature Review

This review examines the relationship between micro- and nanoplastic exposure and lung cancer development, summarizing evidence that these particles can enter the respiratory system through inhaled air, contaminated food, and other pathways. Researchers found that microplastics may promote inflammatory and oxidative processes in lung tissue that are associated with cancer progression. The study suggests that chronic microplastic exposure warrants consideration as a potential contributing factor in lung cancer research.

2025 Cancers 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Exposure and inhaling of microplastics: An evidence of cause of cancer

This review examined the evidence linking microplastic inhalation to cancer risk, covering how inhaled MPs accumulate in the lungs, trigger chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and DNA damage, and may contribute to lung carcinogenesis. The authors identified microplastic inhalation as an underappreciated occupational and environmental cancer risk.

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

Breathing under siege: a narrative review on the potential biological mechanisms linking micro- and nanoplastic exposure to lung diseases

This narrative review examines how inhaled micro- and nanoplastics from indoor and outdoor air — including from synthetic textiles and face masks — can trigger lung inflammation, oxidative stress, and fibrosis, and outlines proposed mechanisms linking plastic inhalation to respiratory disease.

2025 Journal of Breath Research
Systematic Review Tier 1

Deleterious effects of microplastics and nanoplastics on rodent lungs: a systematic review

This systematic review summarizes research on how inhaled micro- and nanoplastics affect the lungs in animal studies. The findings show these particles can cause lung inflammation, tissue damage, and immune responses, suggesting that breathing in airborne microplastics may pose real risks to respiratory health.

2025
Systematic Review Tier 1

Air Pollution Microplastics with the Potential Risk of Lung Disease: A Systematic Review

This systematic review of 20 studies found that airborne microplastics, present in both indoor and outdoor air, can reach deep into the lungs when inhaled. Their accumulation in lung tissue may cause oxidative stress, inflammation, and damage to the lung's protective lining, raising concerns about respiratory diseases from chronic exposure to plastic-contaminated air.

2025 Journal of Environmental Health and Sustainable Development
Article Tier 2

Microplastics, potential threat to patients with lung diseases

This review examines the potential threat that airborne microplastics pose to people with existing lung conditions, noting that these particles have been found in human lung tissue and sputum. Researchers explored possible mechanisms by which inhaled microplastics could worsen lung diseases, including triggering inflammation and oxidative stress. The study highlights significant knowledge gaps and calls for more research into how microplastic inhalation affects respiratory health.

2022 Frontiers in Toxicology 119 citations
Review Tier 2

Airborne microplastics: A narrative review of potential effects on the human respiratory system

This review consolidates research on airborne microplastics and their potential effects on the human respiratory system. Studies show that inhaled microplastics can deposit in the lungs, trigger inflammation, cause oxidative stress, and lead to cell damage and death. While human exposure evidence is still limited, animal and cell studies suggest that long-term inhalation of airborne microplastics could pose significant risks to lung health.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 80 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of microplastics deposition on human lung airways: A review with computational benefits and challenges

This review examines how microplastics deposited in human lungs can cause inflammation, oxidative stress, and reduced lung function. Because these tiny particles can reach deep into the lungs where oxygen enters the blood, they raise concerns about long-term respiratory disease and the possibility of spreading to other organs.

2024 Heliyon 126 citations
Article Tier 2

Atmospheric microplastic and nanoplastic: The toxicological paradigm on the cellular system

This review examines how airborne microplastics and nanoplastics affect human cells after being inhaled into the lungs. Because these particles are tiny and lightweight, they can penetrate deep into lung tissue and potentially enter the bloodstream. Studies on human cell lines show that inhaled plastic particles can cause inflammation, oxidative stress, and DNA damage, raising concerns about long-term respiratory and systemic health effects.

2023 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 71 citations
Article Tier 2

Exposure and inhaling of microplastics: An evidence of cause of cancer

This review examined microplastic inhalation as a potential cause of cancer, surveying pathways by which inhaled MP particles accumulate in lung tissue and drive oncogenic processes through inflammation, oxidative damage, and DNA strand breaks. The evidence reviewed supports classifying microplastic inhalation as an emerging environmental cancer risk factor.

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

Exposure to environmental xenobiotics and lung tissue function: A comprehensive review on biological mechanisms and pathways

This comprehensive review examines how environmental pollutants including microplastics, heavy metals, and volatile organic compounds damage lung tissue through mechanisms like oxidative stress, inflammation, and disruption of cellular barriers. The study suggests these pollutants contribute to chronic respiratory diseases and highlights how they can also cause epigenetic changes that may affect future generations.

2025 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Unveiling the Pulmonary Toxicity of Polystyrene Nanoplastics: A Hierarchical Oxidative Stress Mechanism Driving Acute–Subacute Lung Injury

Researchers investigated the pulmonary toxicity of polystyrene nanoplastics smaller than 100 nm in lung epithelial cells and macrophages, finding that exposure triggered a hierarchical oxidative stress mechanism that drove acute to subacute lung injury through lipid peroxidation and inflammation.

2025 Research
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as an Emerging Human Health Risk: Mechanisms, Exposure, and Clinical Evidence

This review examines the growing body of evidence on how microplastics enter the human body through ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact, and have now been detected in blood, lung tissue, placenta, and cardiovascular tissue. Evidence indicates that microplastics may cause harm through oxidative stress, inflammation, and cellular damage, though a direct causal link to specific health conditions has not yet been fully established.

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

Microplastics as an Emerging Human Health Risk: Mechanisms, Exposure, and Clinical Evidence

This review examines the growing body of evidence on how microplastics enter the human body through ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact, and have now been detected in blood, lung tissue, placenta, and cardiovascular tissue. Evidence indicates that microplastics may cause harm through oxidative stress, inflammation, and cellular damage, though a direct causal link to specific health conditions has not yet been fully established.

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

Microplastics as environmental modifiers of lung disease

This review examines growing evidence that inhaled microplastics may contribute to lung diseases including asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Researchers found that different plastic types, sizes, and weathering states can trigger inflammation, oxidative stress, and cellular changes in lung tissue, suggesting microplastics may act as environmental modifiers that worsen respiratory conditions.

2025 EMBO Molecular Medicine 2 citations
Article Tier 2

A particle of concern: explored and proposed underlying mechanisms of microplastic-induced lung damage and pulmonary fibrosis

This paper explores how inhaled microplastics may cause lung damage and scarring (pulmonary fibrosis) through several biological pathways. The research identifies signaling pathways that could be targeted for future treatments to reduce microplastic-induced lung damage. This is relevant to human health because people regularly breathe in airborne microplastic particles.

2025 Inhalation Toxicology 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Exposure and inhaling of microplastics: An evidence of cause of cancer

This review examines epidemiological and experimental evidence linking microplastic inhalation and ingestion to cancer risk, covering mechanisms including oxidative stress, inflammation, and genotoxicity from both particles and associated chemical additives. It highlights lung and gastrointestinal cancers as priority areas of concern.

2025 World Journal of Biology Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Article Tier 2

Sub-acute polyethylene microplastic inhalation exposure induced pulmonary toxicity in wistar rats through inflammation and oxidative stress

Researchers exposed rats to airborne polyethylene microplastics through inhalation for 28 days and found significant signs of lung damage. The exposed animals showed increased inflammation markers, elevated oxidative stress, and tissue changes in the lungs compared to controls. The study provides evidence that breathing in microplastic particles from degraded plastic bags and bottles may cause pulmonary toxicity.

2025 Toxicology Reports 3 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

Molecular mechanisms of air pollution–induced carcinogenesis and the emerging role of microplastics

This review examined the molecular mechanisms by which air pollution components — including fine particulate matter, microplastics, volatile organic compounds, and heavy metals — contribute to cancer development. The authors identify microplastics as an emerging air pollution carcinogen that can carry and deliver chemical carcinogens into lung tissue.

2025 Human Genomics
Article Tier 2

Recent advances on transport and transformation mechanism of nanoplastics in lung cells

This review examines how nanoplastics, the smallest fragments of plastic pollution, travel through and affect lung cells after being inhaled. Researchers summarized evidence that these particles can cross cell membranes, trigger inflammation, and undergo chemical changes inside respiratory tissue. The findings underscore that airborne nanoplastics represent a potential threat to human respiratory health that warrants further investigation.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 7 citations