Occupational and Environmental Exposures: Trends in Publications, Diseases, and Experimental Models

The observed trends reflect increasing research focus on occupational and environmental exposures, particularly for silica dust and microplastics, with pulmonary fibrosis as the most frequently studied disease outcome. The predominant use on animal and conventional <i>in vitro</i> models underscores a gap in physiologically relevant human-based experimental systems. Organ-on-chip technology, despite its potential to recapitulate human epithelial barriers and tissue-specific responses, remains minimally utilized, highlighting a clear opportunity for future mechanistic studies. These findings emphasize the need for innovative experimental models to better understand exposure-related pathophysiology and to bridge the translational gap between <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> studies.