Bio: Wenhui Qiu, Associate Professor at SUSTech's School of Environmental Science and Engineering, and Deputy Director of the Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control. With 100+ SCI-indexed publications, over 60 as first/corresponding author, and 5,363 citations (H-index: 41, August 2025), she has led 10+ national and provincial projects,  and holds 17 patents. She serves as Associate Editor for Environmental Geochemistry and Health and International Immunopharmacology, as well as Editorial Board Member for Environmental Science & Technology and ACS ES&T Letters.

Abstract: Microplastics (MPs), plastic particles<5 mm, are increasingly recognized as“human health risk factors”because of their pervasive presence in commonly consumed food items, such as vegetables,  table salts, and drinking water. Previous studies indicated that the intestinal system represents the predominant site of MPs accumulation among all organs—primarily driven by chronic and repeated dietary exposure. Here, we evaluated the impact of different exposure routes (waterborne, foodborne, and coexposure) of 80 nm polystyrene NPs on intestinal accumulation and inflammatory response using zebrafish.

Our results demonstrated that aqueous and dietary exposures led to both time- and dose-dependent bioaccumulation of NPs, damaged intestinal structure, and induced immune cells and genes in the intestine.  Furthermore, using complementary high-resolution techniques, confocal micro-Raman spectrometry, Raman Imaging-Scanning Electron microscopy, and Hyperspectral Imaging, we demonstrate, for the first time, in situ detection and characterization of MPs within human intestinal tumor tissues. Among 158 clinical intestinal tumor specimens, MPs were detected in 87 cases (55.1%), with poly (ethylene terephthalate) as the predominant polymer. MP-positive tumors were associated with localized inflammation and histopathological changes, suggestive of MP-induced tissue stress. Collectively, these findings highlight the urgent need to recognize MPs pollution as an emerging environmental and public health issue with potential long-term implications for gastrointestinal disease prevention and global health policy.