Microplastics as Emerging Contaminants: Pathways, Environmental Persistence, and Human Health Implications
Abstract
Microplastics (MPs) have emerged as persistent environmental contaminants due to their persistence, widespread distribution, and potential risks to the environment and human health. This review focuses on the sources of MPs, their potential environmental risks, and human impacts, as documented in the recent literature from 2020 to 2026. Recent studies focusing on pathways, environmental weathering, and toxicity were evaluated and synthesized into the analysis. Previous studies have demonstrated that microplastics are transported across and between environmental compartments. Environmental degradation, driven by ultraviolet radiation, mechanical fragmentation, and oxidation, can alter microplastics' surface characteristics, which may affect microplastic mobility, reactivity, and the solid-state adsorption of contaminants. Human exposure occurs primarily through ingestion and inhalation, with dermal and occupational exposure also contributing under certain conditions. Emerging evidence from in vitro, animal, and human tissue studies suggests that smaller particles, particularly nanoplastics, may contribute to oxidative stress, inflammation, and cellular injury; however, important uncertainties remain regarding environmentally realistic exposure levels, long-term health outcomes, and the extrapolation of experimental findings to real-world human health risk. Overall, the current literature highlights the need for standardized methodologies, improved integration of environmental monitoring and exposure assessment, and stronger evidence to support risk assessment and policy development.
Related
- Implications for Faster Healing with Fewer Applications: Sustained Graft Persistence and Favorable Wound-Healing Biology of a Proprietary Processed Placental Tissue Allograft
- Seed persistence of nine weed species in silage, manure, and slurry and implications for dispersal through organic fertilizers
- Host transcriptional signatures associated with disease tolerance and environmental persistence in a mosquito–microsporidian system
- Trends and drivers of prairie stream fish community persistence: implications for climate refugia
- GClnc1 as an emerging oncogenic regulator with mechanistic insights and clinical implications in human cancers
BibTeX
@article{rammal2026microplastics,
title = {{Microplastics as Emerging Contaminants: Pathways, Environmental Persistence, and Human Health Implications}},
author = {Jana Rammal and Assi Al Moussawi and Chaden Haidar and Mikhael Bechelany and Dalia El Badan and Ismail Hijazi and Akram Hijazi},
journal = {Microplastics},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.3390/microplastics5020128},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05775944v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Microplastics as Emerging Contaminants: Pathways, Environmental Persistence, and Human Health Implications
AU - Jana Rammal
AU - Assi Al Moussawi
AU - Chaden Haidar
AU - Mikhael Bechelany
AU - Dalia El Badan
AU - Ismail Hijazi
AU - Akram Hijazi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/18
JO - Microplastics
DO - 10.3390/microplastics5020128
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05775944v1
AB - Microplastics (MPs) have emerged as persistent environmental contaminants due to their persistence, widespread distribution, and potential risks to the environment and human health. This review focuses on the sources of MPs, their potential environmental risks, and human impacts, as documented in the recent literature from 2020 to 2026. Recent studies focusing on pathways, environmental weathering, and toxicity were evaluated and synthesized into the analysis. Previous studies have demonstrated that microplastics are transported across and between environmental compartments. Environmental degradation, driven by ultraviolet radiation, mechanical fragmentation, and oxidation, can alter microplastics' surface characteristics, which may affect microplastic mobility, reactivity, and the solid-state adsorption of contaminants. Human exposure occurs primarily through ingestion and inhalation, with dermal and occupational exposure also contributing under certain conditions. Emerging evidence from in vitro, animal, and human tissue studies suggests that smaller particles, particularly nanoplastics, may contribute to oxidative stress, inflammation, and cellular injury; however, important uncertainties remain regarding environmentally realistic exposure levels, long-term health outcomes, and the extrapolation of experimental findings to real-world human health risk. Overall, the current literature highlights the need for standardized methodologies, improved integration of environmental monitoring and exposure assessment, and stronger evidence to support risk assessment and policy development.
SN - 2673-8929
ER -