Sci Total Environ. 2024 Nov 25:953:176228. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176228.Epub 2024 Sep 11.

Manasi Agrawal ¹, Alvise Vianello ², Mellissa Picker ³, Laura Simon-Sánchez ², Rosemary Chen ³, Maria Manuela Estevinho ⁴, Kaitlyn Weinstein ³, Jeanette Lykkemark ², Tine Jess ⁵, Inga Peter ³, Jean-Frederic Colombel ⁶, Kristine Højgaaard Allin ⁵, Jes Vollertsen ²

Author information

¹The Dr. Henry D. Janowitz Division of Gastroenterology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States of America; Center for Molecular Prediction of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (PREDICT), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic address: manasi.agrawal@mountsinai.org.

²Department of the Built Environment, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.

³Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States of America.

⁴Department of Gastroenterology, Unidade Local de Saúde Gaia Espinho, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal; Department of Biomedicine, Unit of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.

⁵Center for Molecular Prediction of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (PREDICT), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark; Department of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark.

⁶The Dr. Henry D. Janowitz Division of Gastroenterology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States of America.

Abstract

Plastics, encompassing a wide range of polymeric materials, and their downstream products (micro- and nanoplastics, MNPs) are accumulating in the environment at an alarming rate, and they are linked to adverse human health outcomes. Considering that ingestion is a main source of MNPs exposure, the impact of plastics is particularly relevant towards intestinal inflammation and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, the study of MNPs has been limited by obstacles relating to sample collection, preparation, and microplastics analysis based on optical microscopy and chemical analysis, which we detail in this review alongside potential solutions. We summarize available data on human exposure to MNPs and overall health outcomes, with particular focus on data pertaining to intestinal inflammation, microbiome perturbations, and related outcomes. We include ecologic perspectives, and human, in vitro, and animal model studies. We discuss the way forward in MNPs and IBD research, including knowledge gaps and future research.