Adverse health effects of emerging contaminants on inflammatory bowel disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is becoming increasingly prevalent with the improvement of people's living standards in recent years, especially in urban areas. The emerging environmental contaminant is a newly-proposed concept in the progress of industrialization and modernization, referring to synthetic chemicals that were not noticed or researched before, which may lead to many chronic diseases, including IBD. The emerging contaminants mainly include microplastics, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, chemical herbicides, heavy metals, and persisting organic pollutants. In this review, we summarize the adverse health effect of these emerging contaminants on humans and their relationships with IBD. Therefore, we can better understand the impact of these new emerging contaminants on IBD, minimize their exposures, and lower the future incidence of IBD.

Automated summary

In recent years, the prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has increased, especially in urban areas, due to improved living standards. The concept of emerging environmental contaminants, which refers to synthetic chemicals that were previously unnoticed or researched, is closely related to the development of industrialization and modernization, and is known to contribute to chronic diseases including IBD. These emerging contaminants include microplastics, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, chemical herbicides, heavy metals, and persisting organic pollutants. This review summarizes the adverse health effects of these contaminants on humans and their association with IBD, aiming to enhance understanding of their impact, reduce exposure, and lower the future incidence of IBD.