Uranium contamination is a global health concern. Regarding natural or anthropogenic uranium contamination, the major sources of concern are groundwater, mining, phosphate fertilizers, nuclear facilities, and military activities. Many epidemiological and laboratory studies have demonstrated that environmental and occupational uranium exposure can induce multifarious health problems. Uranium exposure may cause health risks because of its chemotoxicity and radiotoxicity in natural or anthropogenic scenarios: the former is generally thought to play a more significant role with regard to the natural uranium exposure, and the latter is more relevant to enriched uranium exposure. The understanding of the health risks and underlying toxicological mechanisms of uranium remains at a preliminary stage, and many controversial findings require further research. In order to present state-of-the-art status in this field, this review will primarily focus on the chemotoxicity of uranium, rather than its radiotoxicity, as well as the involved toxicological mechanisms. First, the natural or anthropogenic uranium contamination scenarios will be briefly summarized. Second, the health risks upon natural uranium exposure, for example, nephrotoxicity, bone toxicity, reproductive toxicity, hepatotoxicity, neurotoxicity, and pulmonary toxicity, will be discussed based on the reported epidemiological cases and laboratory studies. Third, the recent advances regarding the toxicological mechanisms of uranium-induced chemotoxicity will be highlighted, including oxidative stress, genetic damage, protein impairment, inflammation, and metabolic disorder. Finally, the gaps and challenges in the knowledge of uranium-induced chemotoxicity and underlying mechanisms will be discussed.

铀污染是全球健康问题。关于自然或人为的铀污染，主要关注的问题是地下水，采矿，磷肥，核设施和军事活动。许多流行病学和实验室研究表明，暴露于环境和职业中的铀可引起多种健康问题。由于在自然或人为情况下的化学毒性和放射毒性，铀暴露可能会造成健康风险：通常认为前者在天然铀暴露方面起更重要的作用，而后者与浓缩铀暴露更相关。对铀的健康风险和潜在毒理学机制的了解仍处于初步阶段，许多有争议的发现需要进一步研究。为了展示该领域的最新状况，本综述将主要关注铀的化学毒性，而不是其放射性毒性以及所涉及的毒理学机理。首先，将简要总结自然的或人为的铀污染情况。其次，将根据报告的流行病学案例和实验室研究来讨论天然铀暴露对健康的危害，例如肾毒性，骨骼毒性，生殖毒性，肝毒性，神经毒性和肺毒性。第三，将重点介绍有关铀诱导的化学毒性的毒理学机制的最新进展，包括氧化应激，遗传损伤，蛋白质损伤，炎症和代谢紊乱。最后，