Interactions between gut microbiota and emerging contaminants exposure: new and profound implications for human health

Emerging contaminants (ECs) pollution has attracted global attention, and a large number of ECs spread in the environment, threatening the ecological environment and human health. Gut microbiota is the most complex microbial community, and its high sensitivity to ECs exposure has been widely concerned and reported by researchers. In fact, many studies have demonstrated that the gut microbiota is closely related to host health and is a toxic target of various environmental pollutants including ECs. This review evaluates the interaction of ECs (including persistent organic pollutants, antibiotics, microplastics and environmental endocrine disruptors) with the gut microbiota, and considers the possible harm of ECs to human health, finding that the gut microbiota may be involved in the regulation of various organ damage, endocrine disorders, embryotoxicity, and cancer development and other toxic processes caused by ECs exposure through related mechanisms such as the gut-liver axis, direct effects (toxins and metabolites enter the blood after intestinal injury), and gut-brain axis. In short, we hope that more future studies will pay more attention to the relationship between ECs, gut microbiota and human health.