Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Further Studies in Translatable Model Systems are Needed to Predict the Impacts of Human Microplastic Exposure

This review highlights that humans are inevitably exposed to microplastics through food, drink, and air, but most toxicity studies have been done in aquatic species at unrealistically high doses. The authors call for better experimental models that reflect realistic human exposure before health risks can be fully assessed.

2020 Open Access Journal of Toxicology 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Potential adverse health effects of ingested micro- and nanoplastics on humans. Lessons learned from in vivo and in vitro mammalian models

This review compiles recent studies on the effects of ingested micro- and nanoplastics using mammalian in vivo and in vitro models to assess potential human health implications. The authors found that while substantial research effort has been made, significant gaps remain in understanding absorption, biodistribution, and toxicity of these particles in mammalian systems. The review provides recommendations for improved testing methods to generate more relevant and targeted data for human risk assessment.

2019 Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health Part B 272 citations
Review Tier 2

Can the impact of micro- and nanoplastics on human health really be assessed using in vitro models? A review of methodological issues

This review examines whether lab-based cell studies can reliably predict how micro and nanoplastics affect human health. The authors found significant inconsistencies in how researchers choose plastic particle types, doses, and exposure methods, making it hard to compare results across studies. The paper calls for standardized testing protocols so that lab findings can more accurately reflect real-world microplastic exposure risks to people.

2023 Environment International 34 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

Hazard assessment of small-size plastic particles: is the conceptual framework of particle toxicology useful?

Researchers reviewed the toxicological evidence for micro- and nanoplastic hazards using a particle toxicology framework, finding that most cell culture studies show effects only at high concentrations and that animal studies have not demonstrated overt toxicity — while concluding that realistic low-dose studies using tissue models that mimic mammalian architecture are urgently needed to properly assess human health risk.

2019 Food and Chemical Toxicology 48 citations
Review Tier 2

Harmful effects of the microplastic pollution on animal health: a literature review

This review summarizes research on how microplastics affect the health of both aquatic organisms and lab animals like mice and rats. The animal studies suggest that microplastics could have a significant negative impact on human health, but the results are still mixed because experiments vary widely in plastic type, particle size, and dosage. More standardized research is needed before we can draw firm conclusions about the risks to people.

2022 PeerJ 201 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic toxicity: mechanisms, assessment methods, and future research directions

This review synthesizes current knowledge on microplastic toxicity mechanisms, integrating physical, chemical, and biological pathways into a unified framework. Researchers examined assessment methods across aquatic organisms, terrestrial species, and human cell models, identifying critical knowledge gaps and recommending standardized approaches for future microplastic toxicity research.

2026 Frontiers in Toxicology
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

Recent progress of microplastic toxicity on human exposure base on in vitro and in vivo studies

This review summarizes recent research on how microplastics affect the human body based on lab cell studies and animal experiments. Evidence shows microplastics can damage multiple organ systems including the digestive, respiratory, nervous, reproductive, and cardiovascular systems. The paper identifies significant gaps in our understanding and calls for more research using realistic exposure levels to better assess the true risk to human health.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 123 citations
Article Tier 2

Exposure scenarios for human health risk assessment of nano- and microplastic particles

This paper focuses on developing realistic exposure scenarios for assessing human health risks from nano- and microplastic particles. Establishing accurate models of how much plastic people actually encounter through food, air, and water is a critical step for determining whether current exposure levels pose real health dangers.

2025 Microplastics and Nanoplastics 16 citations
Review Tier 2

Environmental exposure to microplastics: a scoping review on human health effects

This scoping review systematically examined published evidence on the health effects of microplastic exposure in humans. It found that human exposure is certain and widespread, but that data on dose-response relationships and specific health outcomes are still limited — highlighting an urgent need for rigorous human health studies.

2020 ISEE Conference Abstracts
Article Tier 2

Human Toxicity of Nano‐ and Microplastics

This review summarizes current evidence on the human toxicity of nano- and microplastics, covering ingestion, inhalation, and dermal exposure routes and the biological effects documented in experimental systems. The authors assess the state of the evidence and identify key gaps for risk characterization.

2024 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of Microplastics on Aquatic Organisms and Human Health: A Review

This review examined the impacts of microplastics on aquatic organisms and human health, highlighting that microplastic size ranges mimic prey sizes ingested by aquatic organisms and that contaminated commercially important fish species transfer microplastics to human consumers. The authors synthesised evidence on ingestion pathways, toxicological effects, and human dietary exposure routes.

2020 International Journal of Environmental Sciences & Natural Resources 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics: Impacts on the Environment and Human Health

This review covers what is currently known about microplastic pollution's effects on both the environment and human health, summarizing evidence from studies on wildlife, ecosystems, and human exposure pathways. The authors note that while concern is growing, definitive conclusions about human health risks remain elusive due to limited clinical research.

2021 DigiNole (Florida State University)
Article Tier 2

Microplastics toxicity: Classification, sources, exposure routes, and experiments

This review summarized the classification, sources, exposure routes, and toxicological effects of microplastics across environmental matrices and biological systems. The authors synthesized evidence from multiple exposure experiments to assess human health risks from ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact with common plastic polymers.

2025 Desalination and Water Treatment
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Exposure and Human Health: Advancing Risk Assessment and Future Research Directions

This review synthesizes recent evidence that microplastics are present in human blood, respiratory tissue, placenta, and gut, examines proposed toxicological mechanisms, and identifies priorities for improving risk assessment frameworks and exposure measurement methods.

2025 Theoretical and Natural Science
Article Tier 2

Health impacts and detection challenges of human exposure to microplastics

This review examined the health impacts of human exposure to microplastics and nanoplastics through ingestion, inhalation, and skin absorption. Researchers found that these tiny particles pose significant health risks due to their ability to carry toxic contaminants and interact with biological tissues. The study also highlights major challenges in accurately detecting and measuring microplastic exposure in humans, which limits our understanding of the full scope of health effects.

2025 Cancer Plus 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of microplastics and nanoplastics on human Health: Emerging evidence and future directions

This review summarizes current evidence on how micro- and nanoplastics enter the human body through food, air, and skin contact, and the cellular damage they may cause. While microplastic pollution is a recognized environmental hazard, the authors note that definitive evidence linking plastic particle exposure to specific health outcomes in humans is still limited and more realistic exposure studies are needed.

2025 Emerging contaminants 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Paradigms to assess the human health risks of nano- and microplastics

Researchers proposed a new, comprehensive framework for assessing the health risks of nano- and microplastics (tiny plastic particles), addressing key gaps in how we analyze these particles, model their behavior, and use that information to protect human health — since no such standard risk assessment system currently exists.

2021 Microplastics and Nanoplastics 89 citations
Article Tier 2

The Need to Implement Innovative Technologies to Advance Research on the Biotoxicity of Micro- and Nanoplastics

This review examines the limitations of current animal models for studying the biotoxicity of micro- and nanoplastics and argues for the adoption of innovative technologies such as organoids, organ-on-chip platforms, and advanced imaging. It calls for mechanistic studies that move beyond descriptive toxicity characterisation.

2025 Environment & Health
Article Tier 2

A critical viewpoint on current issues, limitations, and future research needs on micro- and nanoplastic studies: From the detection to the toxicological assessment.

This critical review examines the current methods for detecting and characterizing micro- and nanoplastics in various environmental samples, as well as reported toxic effects from in vivo and in vitro studies. The authors found that while substantial effort has been made to understand microplastic behavior, the scientific community is still far from a complete understanding of how these particles behave in biological systems. The review calls for improved standardized protocols and more studies focused on uptake kinetics, accumulation, and biodistribution.

2019 Environmental Research 163 citations
Article Tier 2

A One Health perspective of the impacts of microplastics on animal, human and environmental health

This review takes a "One Health" approach to microplastics, examining how they affect animal health, human health, and the environment as interconnected systems. The authors caution that many lab studies use microplastic concentrations far higher than what is found in nature, making their results hard to apply to real-world risk. However, they note that microplastics can indirectly affect human health by disrupting ecosystems and soil processes that support food production and clean water.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 324 citations
Article Tier 2

The need for ecologically realistic studies on the health effects of microplastics

This perspective argues that current laboratory studies on microplastic health effects — which rely on force-feeding rodents unrealistically high doses — poorly represent actual wildlife or human exposures, calling for more ecologically realistic study designs to generate meaningful risk data.

2022 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Multiple Effects, Pathways, and Potential Health Risks from Environmental Microplastic Exposure

This review synthesizes nearly two decades of research on the multiple pathways through which environmental microplastics affect human and ecological health, including chemical toxicity, physical impacts, and potential roles as carriers of pathogens and contaminants.

2025 Toxics