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This review addresses the interconnected challenges of plastic pollution, focusing on exposure pathways, health implications, and mitigation strategies.

July 21, 2026Open Access

Plastic waste management and the emergence of microplastics as an integrated challenge involving sources exposure pathways health implications and circular solutions

ADAbhijeet DasVivekananda Global University SMSatchidananda MishraVivekananda Global University KBKrishna Pada BauriVivekananda Global University

Key Points

This review addresses the interconnected challenges of plastic pollution, focusing on exposure pathways, health implications, and mitigation strategies.
Synthesis of existing evidence on exposure, biological impacts, and ecosystem consequences of plastic pollution.
Integration of waste management strategies, toxicological mechanisms, and circular economy interventions.
Examination of technological innovation and stakeholder collaboration for effective mitigation.
Microplastics act as vectors for chemicals and pathogens, causing oxidative stress and inflammation.
Spatial scales of plastic pollution affect both ecosystems and food webs, with implications for wildlife and human health.
Systemic interventions linked to Sustainable Development Goals are vital for addressing plastic waste.

Abstract

Plastic pollution has emerged as a pervasive global environmental and public health challenge, affecting terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems across all spatial scales. Macro-, micro-, and nanoplastics enter food webs through ingestion, inhalation, and trophic transfer, posing distinct yet interconnected toxicological and physiological risks to wildlife and livestock, while potential implications for human health are still being actively investigated. Macro plastics primarily cause physical injuries, gastrointestinal obstruction, starvation, and mortality in marine and terrestrial animals, while microplastics act as vectors for chemical additives and pathogens, inducing oxidative stress, inflammation, and microbiome disruption. Nanoplastics, due to their small size and high surface reactivity, exhibit enhanced bioavailability, enabling cellular uptake and translocation across biological barriers in experimental systems, with studies indicating potential genotoxic and endocrine-disrupting effects. However, evidence regarding long-term human health outcomes remains limited and is still emerging. This review synthesizes current evidence on exposure pathways, biological impacts, and ecosystem-level consequences of plastic pollution, highlighting critical knowledge gaps related to chronic toxicity, mixture effects, and long-term health outcomes. This review uniquely integrates waste management system failures, toxicological mechanisms, and circular economy interventions to provide a systems-level synthesis of plastic pollution pathways from production to health outcomes. We further examine mitigation strategies through a circular economy lens, emphasizing source reduction, product redesign, extended producer responsibility, improved waste management, and policy coherence across scales. Integrating technological innovation with governance, behavioral change, and stakeholder collaboration is essential to curb plastic leakage and prevent secondary micro- and nano plastic formation. Overall, addressing plastic pollution requires systemic, science-based interventions that link environmental protection with human health objectives. Such integrated approaches directly support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), 14 (Life Below Water), and 15 (Life on Land), reinforcing the urgency for coordinated global action.

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