Fig. 5.

Detrimental effects of microplastic ingestion on human health and toxic mechanisms. Microplastics found in everyday items, including bottle packaging, can have harmful effects on human health when ingested. Once absorbed through the intestines, they can travel through the circulatory system to other organs. Different mechanisms can take microplastics, such as membrane damage, clathrin/caveolin-dependent, caveolin-dependent, clathrin-dependent, and micropinocytosis. High levels of microplastics can increase oxidative stress, producing inflammatory cytokines, apoptosis, cytotoxicity, and gene expression disturbances