Microplastic contamination is ubiquitous in aquatic and terrestrial environments, found in water, sediments, within organisms and in the atmosphere and the biological effects on animal and plant life have been extensively investigated in recent years. There is growing evidence that humans are exposed to microplastics via ingestion of food and drink and through inhalation. Despite the prevalence of contamination, there has been limited research on the effects of microplastics on human health and most studies, to date, analyse the effects on model organisms with the likely impacts on human health being inferred by extrapolation. This review summarises the latest findings in the field with respect to the prevalence of microplastics in the human–environment, to what extent they might enter and persist in the body, and what effect, if any, they are likely to have on human health. Whilst definitive evidence linking microplastic consumption to human health is currently lacking, results from correlative studies in people exposed to high concentrations of microplastics, model animal and cell culture experiments, suggest that effects of microplastics could include provoking immune and stress responses and inducing reproductive and developmental toxicity. Further research is required to explore the potential implications of this recent contaminant in our environment in more rigorous clinical studies.

微塑料污染在水生和陆地环境中普遍存在，存在于水、沉积物、生物体内和大气中，近年来对动植物生命的生物影响进行了广泛的研究。越来越多的证据表明，人类通过摄入食物和饮料以及通过吸入接触微塑料。尽管污染普遍存在，但关于微塑料对人类健康影响的研究仍然有限，迄今为止，大多数研究都是分析其对模式生物的影响，并通过外推推断对人类健康可能产生的影响。这篇综述总结了该领域的最新发现，涉及人类环境中微塑料的普遍程度、它们可能进入人体并在体内持续存在的程度，以及它们可能对人类健康产生什么影响（如果有）。虽然目前缺乏将微塑料消费与人类健康联系起来的明确证据，但对暴露于高浓度微塑料的人、模型动物和细胞培养实验的相关研究结果表明，微塑料的影响可能包括激发免疫和应激反应以及诱导生殖和发育。毒性。需要进一步研究，通过更严格的临床研究来探索这种最新污染物对我们环境的潜在影响。