SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Environmental Health and Exposome
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1653245
Invisible Invaders: Unveiling the Carcinogenic Threat of Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Colorectal Cancer-A Systematic Review
Provisionally accepted
- Traditional Chinese Hospital of Xiamen, Xiamen, China
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Microplastics (MPs, 0.1-5000 μm) and Nanoplastics (NPs, 0.001-0.1 μm) are ubiquitous environmental pollutants with strong persistence and bioaccumulation, posing significant threats to human health. Due to their small size, they easily penetrate biological barriers, accumulate in the food chain, and infiltrate human gastrointestinal tissue -with humans ingesting and inhaling over 70,000 microplastic particles annually. Notably, epidemiological data show higher MPs/NPs abundance in colorectal tumor tissues. This systematic review synthesizes 20 years of research to explore the link between MPs/NPs exposure and colorectal cancer (CRC) carcinogenesis. Key findings reveal that MPs/NPs enter the body via ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact, translocating across barriers to induce DNA damage and oxidative stress through reactive oxygen species overproduction. They disrupt intestinal barrier function by reducing tight junction proteins, trigger chronic inflammation via pro-inflammatory cytokines, and cause gut microbiota dysbiosis. Additionally, MPs/NPs act as "Trojan horses", adsorbing toxicants like bisphenol A and pathogens, which exacerbate cytotoxicity and activate carcinogenic pathways. This review highlights the potential carcinogenic risk of MPs/NPs in CRC, deepens understanding of their mechanistic roles, and provides insights for scientific management of MPs/NPs pollution.
Keywords: No.1739, Xianyue Road, Xiamen, China Carcinogenic mechanisms, gut barrier disruption, DNA Damage, Oxidative Stress, environmental toxicology, Human exposure 1. Introduction
Received: 26 Jun 2025; Accepted: 28 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wen and Yuhua. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: LIN Yuhua, Traditional Chinese Hospital of Xiamen, Xiamen, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.