Category Archives: Microplastics & Environmental Health

CONCLUSION: MNP contamination may substantially increase the clinical and economic burden associated with carotid endarterectomy in Australia. Although model-based and subject to uncertainty arising from potential false positives of MNPs due to challenges with analysis in tissue matrices, these findings highlight MNPs as a plausible, previously unrecognised contributor to adverse vascular outcomes and healthcare expenditure.

Ingested nanoplastics (NPs) readily translocate across the intestinal barrier due to their small size, posing a pervasive threat to human health. Current mitigation approaches, constrained to environmental water purification or postexposure injury alleviation, entail unavoidable NPs ingestion or organism damage. Effective strategies to impede NPs internalization at the lumen stage and promote safe elimination remain limited. Here, an edible biohybrid platform, composed of a natural polyphenol…

Nanoplastics are ubiquitous in freshwater ecosystems and pose a threat to environmental and human health. They inhibit the growth of Microcystis aeruginosa and increase its microcystin content, yet the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here we investigated the effects of nano-polystyrene on the growth, photosynthesis, microcystin content and transcriptome of M. aeruginosa. The results showed that 10 mg/L nano-polystyrene slightly inhibited the growth during the first two days of exposure…

Microplastics have emerged as a pervasive contaminant in global food and environmental systems. This review systematically synthesizes the complete pathway of microplastics from environmental compartments to the human food chain, with particular emphasis on their role as carriers of co-contaminants (microorganisms, persistent organic pollutants, and heavy metals). Key findings indicate that microplastics are widely detected across air, water, soil, and food matrices, yet the combined toxicity of…

The presence of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) in daily life raises increasing concerns about their potential health and environmental impacts. However, how food components influence MNP release from packaging materials and the resulting exposure risks remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effect of the primary tea polyphenol, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), on MNP release from polystyrene cups during a simulated tea-drinking process involving thermal treatments. A…

Microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) are environmental contaminants increasingly detected in human tissues, raising public health concerns. Although evidence is still insufficient to directly link MNPs to genitourinary cancers (GU), this Review examines their potential role in prostate, bladder, and renal cell carcinoma. Proposed mechanisms include chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, genotoxicity, and endocrine disruption driven by plastic-associated additives. Emerging studies report…

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition with increasing global prevalence. Human brain development is particularly vulnerable to environmental perturbations during prenatal and early life, when exposures can alter cellular organization, tissue development, and neural function. Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) are emerging environmental contaminants that are ubiquitous in air, water, and food, raising concern due to their potential for chronic, low-level exposure. Their small size may enable MNPs…

Micro- and nano-plastics (MNPs) are widely distributed across global ecosystems and have been extensively detected in human tissues, including the brain. The levels of MNPs are highly correlated with the occurrence of various brain disorders, suggesting the potential central nervous system (CNS) toxicity of MNPs. In this review, we summarize the major circuits by which MNPs may transport into and out of the CNS, including blood-brain barrier crossing, nasal-to-brain routes, and glymphatic system…

Resulting from the widespread global adoption of plastic products, the ubiquitous contamination by micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) now affects nearly every ecosystem, with aquatic environments serving as a primary sink for a vast portion of this pollution. These particles enter the food web, leading to bioaccumulation and posing a potential threat to ecosystems and human health. Conventional filtration systems exhibit limited efficiency to mitigate the growing threat of small MNPs: paradoxically,…

Accurately quantifying and characterizing human internal exposure to micro- and nanoplastics are critical for assessing potential health risks. However, the detection of these particles in human tissues, fluids, cell systems, and relevant models remains a major analytical challenge. There is an urgent need for robust, selective, sensitive, and high-throughput methods capable of generating reliable quantitative data. Equally essential is the transparent reporting of methodological limitations and…