Eco-toxicity of nano-plastics and its implication on human metabolism: Current and future perspective

In the current scenario, plastic pollution has become one of the serious environmental hazard problems due to its im-proper handling and insufficiency in degradation. Nanoplastics (NPs) are formed when plastic fragments are subjected to ultraviolet radiation, natural weathering, and biodegradation. This review paper focuses on the source of origin, bio-accumulation, potential nanoplastics toxicity impact towards environment and human system and management strat-egies towards plastic pollution. Moreover, this study demonstrates that nanoplastics interfere with metabolic pathways and cause organ dysfunction. A wide range of studies have documented the alteration of organism physiology and be-havior, caused by NPs exposure. A major source of NPs exposure is via ingestion because these plastics are found in foods or food packaging, however, they can also enter the human body via inhalation but in a less well-defined form. In recent literature, the studies demonstrate the mechanisms for NP uptake, affecting factors that have been dis-cussed followed by cytotoxic mechanisms of NPs. However, study on challenges regarding NPs toxicity for the risk as-sessment of human health is limited. It is important to perform and focus more on the possible impacts of NPs on human health to identify the key challenges and explore the potential impacts of their environmental accumulation and its toxicity impacts.

Automated summary

This review paper discusses the source, bio-accumulation, potential toxicity impact, and management strategies of nanoplastics pollution. It shows that nanoplastics interfere with metabolic pathways, causing organ dysfunction and altering organism physiology and behavior. The major exposure route for nanoplastics is ingestion, although inhalation is also possible. However, there is limited research on the risk assessment of nanoplastics toxicity for human health, highlighting the importance of studying their potential impacts and environmental accumulation.