Genotoxic, Cytotoxic, and Physiological Effects of Nano- and Microplastics in Invertebrate Model Organisms: Mechanistic Integration, Adverse Outcome Pathways, and Multi-Omics Perspectives

Description

Ahmet Ali Berber and Cansu Akbulut map how tiny plastic particles harm invertebrates in a 2026 semi-systematic review. Microplastics and nanoplastics now saturate water and soil, and small animals eat or absorb them. The authors sort published findings into adverse outcome pathways: chains that run from a first molecular trigger through cell damage to harm in the whole animal. They annotate how strong the proof is at every link.

Four triggers recur: direct membrane contact, protein coatings forming on particles, surface chemistry spawning reactive oxygen, and particles smuggling other pollutants inside, the Trojan horse route. Downstream, stressed powerhouses, leaky storage sacs, and scrambled cell programmes repeat across water fleas, worms, snails, and shrimp. Multi-omics data point the same way. Berber and Akbulut stress that contradictory results often make sense once particle size, charge, and weathering enter the picture.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/PMC13517137