Nanoplastics Toxicity Is a Subset of Nanotoxicology, Not a Separate Field

TY - JOUR

T1 - Nanoplastics Toxicity Is a Subset of Nanotoxicology, Not a Separate Field

AU - Yan, Xiliang

AU - Chen, Hanle

AU - Jia, Chen

AU - Zhang, Jing

AU - Huang, Miao

AU - Wang, Shenqing

AU - Guo, Xing

AU - Yue, Tongtao

AU - Chen, Lingxin

AU - Zhou, Qunfang

AU - Qu, Guangbo

AU - Zhu, Hao

AU - Jiang, Guibin

AU - Yan, Bing

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Authors. Co-published by Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and American Chemical Society

PY - 2025/8/15

Y1 - 2025/8/15

N2 - Nanoplastics toxicity has been framed as an emerging, distinct research area, purportedly addressing a new threat. While this focus has heightened public awareness and influenced the regulation of plastics, isolating nanoplastics toxicity risks inefficiently allocating research resources and hindering sustainable management strategies. Here, using data mining and machine learning, we show that research on nanoplastics toxicity closely mirrors that of engineered nanoparticles, a well-established domain of nanotoxicology. Examining 154,745 research articles on nanoparticle and nanoplastics toxicology, we find that both particle types share similar physicochemical properties, biological uptake mechanisms, toxicity profiles, and structure–toxicity relationships. Although nanoplastics pollution is more pervasive in scale and morphological diversity, its toxicological attributes align with those documented for other nanoscale materials. We challenge the notion that nanoplastics pose a distinct, separate risk, proposing instead that integrating nanoplastics toxicity into the broader field of nanotoxicology can streamline research, prevent duplication of effort, and more efficiently guide policies, resource use, and remediation strategies toward globally sustainable outcomes.

AB - Nanoplastics toxicity has been framed as an emerging, distinct research area, purportedly addressing a new threat. While this focus has heightened public awareness and influenced the regulation of plastics, isolating nanoplastics toxicity risks inefficiently allocating research resources and hindering sustainable management strategies. Here, using data mining and machine learning, we show that research on nanoplastics toxicity closely mirrors that of engineered nanoparticles, a well-established domain of nanotoxicology. Examining 154,745 research articles on nanoparticle and nanoplastics toxicology, we find that both particle types share similar physicochemical properties, biological uptake mechanisms, toxicity profiles, and structure–toxicity relationships. Although nanoplastics pollution is more pervasive in scale and morphological diversity, its toxicological attributes align with those documented for other nanoscale materials. We challenge the notion that nanoplastics pose a distinct, separate risk, proposing instead that integrating nanoplastics toxicity into the broader field of nanotoxicology can streamline research, prevent duplication of effort, and more efficiently guide policies, resource use, and remediation strategies toward globally sustainable outcomes.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105007515500

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105007515500#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1021/envhealth.5c00085

DO - 10.1021/envhealth.5c00085

M3 - Article

SN - 2833-8278

VL - 3

SP - 920

EP - 930

JO - Environment and Health

JF - Environment and Health

IS - 8

ER -