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Reproductive toxicity of microplastics in female mice and their offspring from induction of oxidative stress
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When female mice were fed microplastics for 30 days, their egg quality, fertilization rates, and fertility dropped significantly due to oxidative stress and DNA damage. Even more concerning, the reproductive harm carried over to the next generation, with the daughters of exposed mice also showing reduced fertility. This study suggests that microplastic exposure could affect not just a person's own reproductive health but also that of their children.
Microplastics (MPs) are an emerging pollutant that is becoming recognized as an increasingly serious environmental problem. The biological toxicity and resulting health risks of MPs have attracted much attention in the research community. While the effects of MPs on various mammalian organ systems have been described, their interactions with oocytes and the underlying mechanism of their activity within the reproductive system have remained ambiguous. Here, we discovered that oral administration of MPs to mice (40 mg/kg per day for 30 days) significantly reduced the oocyte maturation and fertilization rate, embryo development, and fertility. Ingestion of MPs significantly increased the ROS level in oocytes and embryos, leading to oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and apoptosis. Moreover, mouse exposure to MPs caused DNA damage in oocytes, including spindle/chromosome morphology defects, and downregulation of actin and Juno expression in mouse oocytes. In addition, mice were also exposed to MPs (40 mg/kg per day) during gestation and lactation to determine trans-generational reproductive toxicity. The results showed that maternal exposure to MPs during pregnancy resulted in a decline in birth and postnatal body weight in offspring mice. Furthermore, MPs exposure of mothers markedly reduced oocyte maturation, fertilization rate, and embryonic development in their female offspring. This investigation provides new insights on the mechanism of MPs' reproductive toxicity and raises concerns for potential risks of MP pollution on the reproductive health of humans and animals.
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Researchers exposed female mice to polystyrene microplastics for 35 days and found the particles accumulated in multiple organs including the ovaries, where they caused inflammation and oxidative stress. The microplastics reduced egg quality by lowering protective antioxidants, disrupting mitochondrial function, and altering calcium levels in the cells. This study provides evidence that microplastic exposure could harm female fertility by directly damaging the ovaries and the eggs they produce.
Lactating exposure to microplastics at the dose of infants ingested during artificial feeding induced reproductive toxicity in female mice and their offspring
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When nursing mice were exposed to microplastics at levels matching what infants ingest from plastic baby bottles, the mothers developed reproductive problems including delayed puberty, irregular cycles, and reduced fertility. Strikingly, their male offspring also showed decreased sperm count and quality, even though they were only exposed through breast milk. This suggests microplastics can cause reproductive harm that passes from mother to child, with males being especially vulnerable.
Intergenerational and transgenerational reproductive toxicity of polystyrene microplastics in female mice
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Female mice were exposed to polystyrene microplastics during lactation and researchers tracked reproductive outcomes in both exposed mothers and their offspring through multiple generations, finding that even at doses comparable to human infant bottle-feeding exposure, microplastics induced ovarian damage and reduced fertility that persisted across generations.
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This review synthesizes in vitro, in vivo, and epidemiological evidence on how microplastics cause reproductive toxicity, focusing on oxidative stress as the central mechanism. MPs infiltrate reproductive tissues, generate reactive oxygen species, and disrupt gametogenesis, hormone regulation, and embryonic development across multiple species.
The Pressing Issue of Micro- and Nanoplastic Contamination: Profiling the Reproductive Alterations Mediated by Oxidative Stress
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