From environmental occurrence to human exposure: multisystem toxicity, immune-relevant mechanisms, and gaps in health-risk assessment of liquid crystal monomers
4 affiliations
- 1Laboratory of Environmental Medicine and Developmental Toxicology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong, China
- 2Center for Reproductive Medicine, Clinical Research Center, Shantou Central Hospital, Shantou, Guangdong, China
- 3Laboratory of Environmental Medicine and Developmental Toxicology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, School of Environment and Climate, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- 4Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong, China
Abstract
Liquid crystal monomers (LCMs), functional constituents of liquid crystal displays, are emerging contaminants increasingly detected in environmental and human matrices, yet the implications of these exposures for human health remain uncertain. This review critically synthesizes current evidence on environmental occurrence and potential exposure pathways, human biomonitoring, toxicokinetics, multisystem toxicity, immune-relevant mechanisms, and health-risk assessment gaps. PubMed, Web of Science Core Collection, and Scopus were searched from database inception to 22 July 2026. Forty-one primary studies met the predefined eligibility criteria, while additional environmental-occurrence studies were used to contextualize sources, release processes, and potential exposure pathways. LCMs have been reported in dust, airborne particulate matter, soils, sediments, and landfill leachate, indicating several plausible exposure pathways, including dust ingestion, inhalation, dermal contact, and dietary intake. LCMs have been detected in urine, serum, human milk, maternal serum, and cord serum, indicating exposure in the general population and during sensitive life stages. Experimental studies report neurological, hepatic, renal, intestinal, respiratory, cutaneous, endocrine, reproductive, developmental, and metabolic effects. Oxidative stress, inflammatory signaling, nuclear receptor perturbation, metabolic dysregulation, and gut microbiota disruption provide biological plausibility for immune-related effects, although direct evidence of classical immunotoxicity remains limited. Major uncertainties include heterogeneous analyte coverage, insufficient human toxicokinetic data, limited chronic low-dose and mixture studies, and the absence of congener-specific reference values. Future research should prioritize harmonized biomonitoring, environmentally relevant mixture testing, prospective studies in susceptible populations, and integrated risk-assessment frameworks for this emerging class of contaminants.
Related
- Occurrence of and Dietary Exposure to Toxic Element Impurities in Food Additives: A Probabilistic Exposure Assessment for the Belgian Population.
- Occurrence and Health Risk Assessment of Organophosphate Esters in Seafood from Southeastern China: Impacts of Cooking Methods and Dietary Exposure.
- Triple-Omics Analysis Unveiled the Neuroprotective Mechanisms of Akkermansia muciniphila in an Environmental Exposure-Linked Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease
- Oxidative Stress and Antioxidant Defense Mechanisms in Sepia esculenta Larvae Induced by Co-Exposure to Environmental Cadmium and Copper
- An Interpretable Machine Learning Framework Integrating Multi-Window Environmental Exposure for Hypertension Risk Assessment.
BibTeX
@article{zhang2026from,
title = {{From environmental occurrence to human exposure: multisystem toxicity, immune-relevant mechanisms, and gaps in health-risk assessment of liquid crystal monomers}},
author = {Hongchi Zhang and Jingle Qiu and Zhenyu Lu and Xiangbin Zheng and Xia Huo and Xijin Xu},
journal = {Frontiers in Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fpubh.2026.1977975},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1977975},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - From environmental occurrence to human exposure: multisystem toxicity, immune-relevant mechanisms, and gaps in health-risk assessment of liquid crystal monomers
AU - Hongchi Zhang
AU - Jingle Qiu
AU - Zhenyu Lu
AU - Xiangbin Zheng
AU - Xia Huo
AU - Xijin Xu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/12
JO - Frontiers in Public Health
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1977975
UR - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1977975
AB - Liquid crystal monomers (LCMs), functional constituents of liquid crystal displays, are emerging contaminants increasingly detected in environmental and human matrices, yet the implications of these exposures for human health remain uncertain. This review critically synthesizes current evidence on environmental occurrence and potential exposure pathways, human biomonitoring, toxicokinetics, multisystem toxicity, immune-relevant mechanisms, and health-risk assessment gaps. PubMed, Web of Science Core Collection, and Scopus were searched from database inception to 22 July 2026. Forty-one primary studies met the predefined eligibility criteria, while additional environmental-occurrence studies were used to contextualize sources, release processes, and potential exposure pathways. LCMs have been reported in dust, airborne particulate matter, soils, sediments, and landfill leachate, indicating several plausible exposure pathways, including dust ingestion, inhalation, dermal contact, and dietary intake. LCMs have been detected in urine, serum, human milk, maternal serum, and cord serum, indicating exposure in the general population and during sensitive life stages. Experimental studies report neurological, hepatic, renal, intestinal, respiratory, cutaneous, endocrine, reproductive, developmental, and metabolic effects. Oxidative stress, inflammatory signaling, nuclear receptor perturbation, metabolic dysregulation, and gut microbiota disruption provide biological plausibility for immune-related effects, although direct evidence of classical immunotoxicity remains limited. Major uncertainties include heterogeneous analyte coverage, insufficient human toxicokinetic data, limited chronic low-dose and mixture studies, and the absence of congener-specific reference values. Future research should prioritize harmonized biomonitoring, environmentally relevant mixture testing, prospective studies in susceptible populations, and integrated risk-assessment frameworks for this emerging class of contaminants.
SN - 2296-2565
ER -