Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: As global plastic pollution continues to intensify, micro- and nanoplastics have emerged as novel environmental pollutants threatening human health. These particles enter the human body through dietary ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact,accumulating within the gastrointestinal tract. Their disruption of the intestinal microbiota has become a recent research focus. Studies indicate that micro- and nanoplastics can interfere with the normal mechanisms of the microbiota-gut-brain axis via neural, immune, and endocrine pathways, thereby inducing or exacerbating diseases. This paper reviews the exposure pathways and intestinal accumulation characteristics of micro- and nanoplastics in humans, the composition of normal gut microbiota and their metabolic products, elucidates the functional pathways of the microbiota-gut-brain axis and the potential impacts of microplastics upon entering the human body, and summarises the current research status, limitations, and future prospects.
Source: Frontiers in Immunology
Authors: Xuan Wang, Haoming Yu, Jihong Li, Shengyu Han, Yuhua Chi
Language: English
Subfield: Pollution
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,801
OpenAlex ID: W7130356557