What is it about?
Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) have emerged as critical environmental contaminants with potential adverse effects on human health. This review explores current evidence on exposure pathways, bioaccumulation mechanisms, and health outcomes and identifies critical knowledge gaps.
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Why is it important?
Highlights • Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) are present throughout the environment. • MPs and NPs enter the human body via ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact. • MPs and NPs have been found in the liver, lungs, placenta, and brain. • MPs and NPs have the potential to cross biological barriers. • MPs and NPs can induce oxidative stress, inflammation, genotoxicity, cytotoxicity, and immune dysregulation.
Perspectives
This review examines the various ways MPs and NPs can be spread in the environment and their potential impact on humans. They can be introduced into the environment through multiple sources, like synthetic textiles, cosmetics, packaging, and industrial processes. These particles enter the human body through ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact, and they deposit in various tissues, including the lungs, kidneys, and gastrointestinal tract. Additionally, they can cross embryonic layers and reach the placenta. They can cause inflammation, oxidative stress, metabolic disorders, genotoxicity, and immunotoxic effects upon interaction, as confirmed by in-vivo and in-vitro studies. Furthermore, long-term exposure to MPs and NPs causes various complications to the human body, including metabolic disorders or even the development of cancers. Despite the presence of much evidence, a significant gap remains in fully understanding the mechanism of toxicity posed by MPs and NPs exposure and its long-term health outcomes. There is an urgent need for extensive investigations and improvement in standardized methods to evaluate the human health impact of MPs and NPs. This review explores current evidence on exposure pathways, bioaccumulation mechanisms, and health outcomes and identifies critical knowledge gaps.
Professor Mohammad Mansoob Khan
Universiti Brunei Darussalam
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Impact of microplastics and nanoplastics on human health: Mechanistic insights and exposure pathways, Toxicology Letters, December 2025, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.toxlet.2025.111769.
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Resources
Impact of microplastics and nanoplastics on human health: Mechanistic insights and exposure pathways
Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) have emerged as critical environmental contaminants with potential adverse effects on human health. This review examines the various ways MPs and NPs can be spread in the environment and their potential impact on humans. They can be introduced into the environment through multiple sources, like synthetic textiles, cosmetics, packaging, and industrial processes. These particles enter the human body through ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact, and they deposit in various tissues, including the lungs, kidneys, and gastrointestinal tract. Additionally, they can cross embryonic layers and reach the placenta. They can cause inflammation, oxidative stress, metabolic disorders, genotoxicity, and immunotoxic effects upon interaction, as confirmed by in-vivo and in-vitro studies. Furthermore, long-term exposure to MPs and NPs causes various complications to the human body, including metabolic disorders or even the development of cancers. Despite the presence of much evidence, a significant gap remains in fully understanding the mechanism of toxicity posed by MPs and NPs exposure and its long-term health outcomes. There is an urgent need for extensive investigations and improvement in standardized methods to evaluate the human health impact of MPs and NPs. This review explores current evidence on exposure pathways, bioaccumulation mechanisms, and health outcomes and identifies critical knowledge gaps.
Impact of microplastics and nanoplastics on human health: Mechanistic insights and exposure pathways
Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) have emerged as critical environmental contaminants with potential adverse effects on human health. This review examines the various ways MPs and NPs can be spread in the environment and their potential impact on humans. They can be introduced into the environment through multiple sources, like synthetic textiles, cosmetics, packaging, and industrial processes. These particles enter the human body through ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact, and they deposit in various tissues, including the lungs, kidneys, and gastrointestinal tract. Additionally, they can cross embryonic layers and reach the placenta. They can cause inflammation, oxidative stress, metabolic disorders, genotoxicity, and immunotoxic effects upon interaction, as confirmed by in-vivo and in-vitro studies. Furthermore, long-term exposure to MPs and NPs causes various complications to the human body, including metabolic disorders or even the development of cancers. Despite the presence of much evidence, a significant gap remains in fully understanding the mechanism of toxicity posed by MPs and NPs exposure and its long-term health outcomes. There is an urgent need for extensive investigations and improvement in standardized methods to evaluate the human health impact of MPs and NPs. This review explores current evidence on exposure pathways, bioaccumulation mechanisms, and health outcomes and identifies critical knowledge gaps.
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