Fate, toxicology and Organ-on-a-chip methodology of nanoplastics in human body.

Nanoplastics (NPs) can cross the human biological barriers, enter the bloodstream, and accumulate in vital organs due to their unique physical and chemical properties. This review provides a detailed explanation of the mechanisms by which NPs cross the air-blood, intestinal, and blood-brain barriers. It provides more insight into how NPs interact with blood components after entering circulation, assesses the cardiovascular toxicity that results, and visually represents how NPs are distributed in human tissues. Traditional static models have significant limitations in simulating the complex physiological microenvironments of the human body. Organ-on-a-chip (OoC) technology is emerging as a novel toxicology tool due to its unique advantages in dynamically reconstructing the vascular microenvironment and biological barriers. This technology allows for a precise characterization of the hemodynamic behavior of NPs and their mechanisms of cross-barrier toxicity. In general, this work offers crucial theoretical and methodological insights to address existing technical issues in assessing the toxicity of emerging environmental contaminants.