Sun Anqi, Wang Wen-Xiong
School of Energy and Environment and State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong 518057, China.
Research Centre for the Oceans and Human Health, City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China.
Environ Health (Wash). 2023 Aug 2;1(3):139-149. doi: 10.1021/envhealth.3c00053. eCollection 2023 Sep 15.
Microplastics are a globally emerging contaminant in the environment, but little is known about the potential risks of microplastics to human health. Possible exposure routes of microplastics to humans include ingestion, inhalation, and dermal penetration, with the last of these needing equal attention as the other two main routes. Evidence showed the presence of microplastics in human-derived biological samples (i.e., excrement, biofluids, and tissues). Most of the toxicological studies of microplastics on humans were based on laboratory rodents and human-derived cells. Energy homeostasis, intestinal microflora, and the reproductive, immune, and nervous systems were regarded as targets of microplastics. The toxicity of microplastics on microstructures including lysosomes, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, and the nucleus further revealed the potential risks of microplastics on human health at the cellular levels. As a carrier, microplastics also had the potential to magnify the toxicity of other contaminants in the environment (e.g., plasticizer, metals, antibiotics, and microorganisms). Studies of microplastics at environmentally realistic conditions are still in their infancy with many unsolved questions to predict their risks on human health.
微塑料是环境中一种全球范围内新出现的污染物，但人们对其对人类健康的潜在风险知之甚少。微塑料进入人体的可能途径包括摄入、吸入和皮肤渗透，其中最后一种途径与其他两种主要途径一样需要同等关注。有证据表明，在人类生物样本（即粪便、生物流体和组织）中存在微塑料。大多数关于微塑料对人类的毒理学研究是基于实验啮齿动物和人类来源的细胞。能量稳态、肠道微生物群以及生殖、免疫和神经系统被视为微塑料的作用靶点。微塑料对包括溶酶体、线粒体、内质网和细胞核在内的微观结构的毒性进一步揭示了微塑料在细胞水平上对人类健康的潜在风险。作为一种载体，微塑料还可能放大环境中其他污染物（如增塑剂、金属、抗生素和微生物）的毒性。在符合环境实际情况的条件下对微塑料的研究仍处于起步阶段，有许多未解决的问题，难以预测它们对人类健康的风险。
