Global Research Trends on Nanoplastics in Food: A Bibliometric Analysis of Human Health Concerns

The increasing prevalence of nanoplastics (NPs) in food and their potential implications for human health have become a growing concern in scientific and public health discourse. Using the Scopus database, this bibliometric analysis provides a comprehensive overview of global research trends on NPs in food from 2015 to 2024. Results show a significant increase in publications and citations post-2019. China is the top-ranked country in terms of the number of publications, citations, collaborations, affiliations, and funding sponsors. The most impactful documents were review articles, indicating that this research field is currently in a synthesis stage. The most productive source was Science of the Total Environment, with 21 articles, while 9 of the top 10 most productive journals were published by Elsevier, highlighting the field's concentration in high-impact outlets. The most prolific authors were Wang, J., and Li, Y; Li, Y. was also the author with the most citation influence, with a h-index of 9. Keyword co-occurrence analysis showed seven thematic clusters formed from 50 individual keywords; the dominant terms were microplastics, NPs, and human health. These findings illustrate an evolving and interdisciplinary research field centered on evaluating the risks and detection of NPs in food and their implications for public health.