Nanoplastics Toxicity Is a Subset of Nanotoxicology, Not a Separate Field

Abstract

Nanoplastics toxicity has been framed as an emerging, distinct research area, purportedly addressing a new threat. While this focus has heightened public awareness and influenced the regulation of plastics, isolating nanoplastics toxicity risks inefficiently allocating research resources and hindering sustainable management strategies. Here, using data mining and machine learning, we show that research on nanoplastics toxicity closely mirrors that of engineered nanoparticles, a well-established domain of nanotoxicology. Examining 154,745 research articles on nanoparticle and nanoplastics toxicology, we find that both particle types share similar physicochemical properties, biological uptake mechanisms, toxicity profiles, and structure–toxicity relationships. Although nanoplastics pollution is more pervasive in scale and morphological diversity, its toxicological attributes align with those documented for other nanoscale materials. We challenge the notion that nanoplastics pose a distinct, separate risk, proposing instead that integrating nanoplastics toxicity into the broader field of nanotoxicology can streamline research, prevent duplication of effort, and more efficiently guide policies, resource use, and remediation strategies toward globally sustainable outcomes.