Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) have emerged as pervasive environmental contaminants with growing evidence of their presence in human tissues, including components of the nervous system. While extensive research has explored MNP exposure, accumulation, and toxicity in other organ systems, their potential impact on the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves remains under-investigated. Recent findings indicate that MNPs can cross biological barriers, including the blood-brain barrier (BBB), raising concerns about their potential to induce neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, neuronal dysfunction, and long-term neurological consequences.
This Research Topic aims to bring together a multidisciplinary collection of cutting-edge studies on MNPs in the nervous system, spanning from fundamental neurobiology to translational and clinical implications. We welcome contributions that address detection, characterization, exposure pathways, cellular and molecular mechanisms of toxicity, and links to neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative conditions. We also encourage discussion of methodologies to minimize contamination in laboratory and field settings, as well as policy and public health perspectives.
This collection seeks to:
• Explore routes of MNP entry into the nervous system (e.g., inhalation, ingestion, dermal absorption) and translocation across biological barriers.
• Examine cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying MNP-induced neurotoxicity, neuroinflammation, and synaptic dysfunction.
• Present novel methods for detecting and characterizing MNPs in nervous system tissues, fluids, and experimental models.
• Investigate the role of MNPs in the pathogenesis or progression of neurological disorders.
Potential subthemes:
• Analytical approaches for MNP detection in nervous system samples.
• In vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo models to study MNP–nervous system interactions.
• Neuroimmune responses to MNP exposure.
• Developmental neurotoxicity of MNPs.
• Comparative studies on central and peripheral nervous system susceptibility.
• Epidemiological studies linking MNP exposure to neurological outcomes.
• Standardization of contamination prevention methods in MNP neuroscience research.
Article types:
• Original Research
• Reviews and Mini-Reviews
• Methods and Protocol papers
• Brief Research Reports
• Hypothesis, Theory papers, and Opinion articles
This collection will serve as a timely platform for researchers from neuroscience, toxicology, environmental science, public health, and policy to converge and advance understanding of this emerging threat to nervous system health. By combining methodological innovation with mechanistic insight, we aim to establish a foundational knowledge base that will inform risk assessment, clinical practice, and policy development.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Brief Research Report
Case Report
Data Report
Editorial
FAIR² Data
General Commentary
Hypothesis and Theory
Methods
Mini Review
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
