TY - JOUR
T1 - Environmental health impacts of microplastics exposure on structural organization levels in the human body
AU - Yang, Xi
AU - Man, Yu Bon
AU - Wong, Ming Hung
AU - Owen, Richard Bernhart
AU - Chow, Ka Lai
N1 - Funding Information:
The corresponding author and Dr. Yu Bon Man would like to thank the support from the Environment and Conservation Fund of The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ( ECF 2020-76 ) and Dean's Research Fund of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences of The Education University of Hong Kong ( DRF/ICSP-3/20-21 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2022/6/15
Y1 - 2022/6/15
N2 - The ubiquitous prevalence of microplastics pollution has raised concerns about microplastics' potential risks and impacts on the global environment. However, the potential human health risks and impacts of microplastics remain largely unexplored. By providing an overview regarding the interaction of microplastics and human health, this review extends current knowledge on the potential impacts of microplastics pollution on humans from an environmental health perspective. The paper firstly presents the characteristics of microplastics as well as the status of global microplastics pollution. As for human health, the potential hazards of microplastics are reflected by toxic chemical components, vectors of contaminants, and physical damage. Extensive microplastic pollution on ecosystems due to human activities leads to inevitable human exposure, which may occur by dietary, inhalation and/or skin contact. Accordingly, microplastics exposure is closely associated with human health. This study explores the potential interactions of microplastics with the biological organization at various levels, including chemical, cellular, tissue, organ, and system levels. The review concludes by highlighting five urgent perspectives and implications for future research on microplastics: 1) Developing a standard terminology and research methods; 2) Reinforcing microplastics pollution governance; 3) Exploring innovative strategies and technologies; 4) Engaging the public and change behaviour; and 5) Adopting a transdisciplinary approach.
AB - The ubiquitous prevalence of microplastics pollution has raised concerns about microplastics' potential risks and impacts on the global environment. However, the potential human health risks and impacts of microplastics remain largely unexplored. By providing an overview regarding the interaction of microplastics and human health, this review extends current knowledge on the potential impacts of microplastics pollution on humans from an environmental health perspective. The paper firstly presents the characteristics of microplastics as well as the status of global microplastics pollution. As for human health, the potential hazards of microplastics are reflected by toxic chemical components, vectors of contaminants, and physical damage. Extensive microplastic pollution on ecosystems due to human activities leads to inevitable human exposure, which may occur by dietary, inhalation and/or skin contact. Accordingly, microplastics exposure is closely associated with human health. This study explores the potential interactions of microplastics with the biological organization at various levels, including chemical, cellular, tissue, organ, and system levels. The review concludes by highlighting five urgent perspectives and implications for future research on microplastics: 1) Developing a standard terminology and research methods; 2) Reinforcing microplastics pollution governance; 3) Exploring innovative strategies and technologies; 4) Engaging the public and change behaviour; and 5) Adopting a transdisciplinary approach.
KW - Environmental health
KW - Human health risk
KW - Microplastics exposure routes
KW - Microplastics toxicity studies
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85126785160&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154025
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154025
M3 - Review article
C2 - 35202683
AN - SCOPUS:85126785160
SN - 0048-9697
VL - 825
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
M1 - 154025
ER -
