Microplastics and Nanoplastics: Emerging Environmental Threats for Cardiovascular Disease

Abstract

Nanoplastics and microplastics (MNPs) have become more and more considered as the emerging environmental pollutants and have some
consequences on cardiovascular health. Their small size allows them to get into the human body by breathing, taking food and drink or
passing through the skin and then to distribute to the circulatory system. It is experimentally and epidemiologically proposed that these
particles can cause endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress and systemic inflammation -HAM factors implicated in the pathogenesis of
atherosclerosis, hypertension and thrombotic diseases. Recent reports have identified MNPs in human blood and heart tissues, and this
might be a cause of concern due to the potential bioaccumulation of MNPs and chronic vascular damage. Moreover, chemical additives
and adsorbed contaminants linked with MNPs can also intensify cardiovascular toxicity, because it can change lipid metabolism,
facilitates the instability of the plaque, and disrupt microvascular regulation. Though, recent results suggest the possible causal direction
between environmental plastic exposure and cardiovascular disease, as recent studies have small sample sizes, diverse approaches, and
deficienting long-term results. More research needs to be done to elucidate dose-response relationships, determine at-risk populations as
well as regulatory thresholds. It is imperative to understand these processes as the pace of world plastic pollution only increases, and it
presents an increasing health concern to the population.