ReviewFrontiers in public health2025
Impact of micro- and nanoplastics exposure on human health: focus on neurological effects from ingestion.
Review in Frontiers in public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Microplastics as Emerging Neurotoxins: Brain Accumulation, Neuroinflammation, and Neurodegeneration Risk.Journal of biochemical and molecular toxicology · 2026Review
- Microplastics and Nanoplastics in the Human Diet: Sources of Exposure, Bioavailability, Toxicokinetics, and Systemic Health Effects.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Micro- and Nanoplastics in the Human Brain: Mechanistic Plausibility, Translational Challenges, and Links to Neurological Disease Trends.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- Microplastic Neurotoxicity in the Prefrontal Cortex: A Review of Mechanisms and Neuropsychiatric Associations.Toxics · 2026Review
- Harmful Effects of Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Human Body Systems: A Systematic Review.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Review
- Alzheimer's disease in theFree neuropathology · 2026Article
- Microplastics and nano-plastics as emerging gut-brain axis disruptors: mechanistic insights, health implications, and future direction.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Microplastics and neurotoxicity: could prenatal exposure to microplastics boost congenital enteric neuropathies?Frontiers in toxicology · 2026Review
- Micro/nanoplastics pollution: emerging challenges for aquatic animals and food crops.Frontiers in toxicology · 2026Review
- Micro- and nanoplastic exposure as an emerging risk factor for depressive-like phenotypes across species: a systematic review.Frontiers in toxicology · 2026Review
- Polystyrene Nanoplastics in Human Gastrointestinal Models-Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Toxicity.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) have become pervasive contaminants in food, water, and air, leading to widespread human exposure, primarily through ingestion. Although MPs are increasingly detected in human tissues, including the placenta, blood, and brain, their long-term health implications are poorly understood. This review compiles emerging evidence on the systemic distribution and biological effects of ingested MPs, particularly on neurological risks. MPs can disrupt gut microbiota, breach intestinal and blood-brain barriers, and accumulate in neural tissues. Mechanistic studies reveal that MPs induce oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, protein aggregation, and neurotransmitter alterations, which may contribute to the development of cognitive dysfunction and neurodegenerative disease pathways. Recent work using brain organoids, single-cell and multi-omics technologies provides deeper mechanistic insights, linking MP/NP exposure to mitochondrial injury, inflammatory signaling, and impaired protein homeostasis. We also identify important gaps in exposure assessment, NPs detection, and epidemiological evidence. Human studies remain scarce but initial reports associating elevated MP/NP burdens in brain tissue with dementia highlight the urgency of this research. To address these gaps, we suggest critical next steps in the research agenda, integrating omics technologies, real-world exposure models, and human-relevant
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.