Inhaled Microplastics: Emerging Toxicological Mechanisms and Lung Cancer Risk

© 2026 by the Authors. Licensee Whioce Publishing, Singapore. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )

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Abstract

Global plastic pollution is rising, drawing attention to health risks from respiratory exposure to micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs); at the same time, lung cancer is also the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. In recent years, many research groups have studied the relationship between MNPs exposure and the development of lung cancer. Inhalation is the main way for MNPs to enter the respiratory system, and the primary response of cells to plastic particles is an increase in oxidative stress. The consequences of MNP exposure mainly include oxidative stress, DNA damage, inflammatory reaction, macrophage polarization and epithelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT). These physiological processes eventually induce the malignant transformation of normal cells. In summary, this review systematically sorts out and improves the toxicological theory and mechanism of MNPs driving the malignant transformation of tissues, aiming to provide a scientific basis for environmental health risk assessment and lung cancer prevention and control.

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