Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Adverse effects of microplastics and nanoplastics on the reproductive system: A comprehensive review of fertility and potential harmful interactions

This review summarizes how microplastics and nanoplastics can harm both male and female reproductive systems by disrupting hormone signaling, damaging sperm and egg cells, and causing inflammation in reproductive tissues. Smaller nanoplastics are especially concerning because they can cross biological barriers more easily and reach the testes and ovaries. With global infertility rates rising, the authors highlight environmental plastic exposure as a factor that deserves more research attention.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 99 citations
Review Tier 2

"Unseen Dangers: The Effects of Micro- and Nanoplastics on Human Reproductive Health - A Narrative Review"

This review examines the effects of micro- and nanoplastics on human reproductive health, covering evidence from in vitro, animal, and epidemiological studies showing that plastic particles can disrupt hormone signaling, sperm function, ovarian development, and placental integrity.

2025 Recent Advances in Inflammation & Allergy Drug Discovery
Article Tier 2

Environmental determinants of male infertility: emerging threats and technological interventions

This review examines how environmental contaminants, including microplastics, air pollution, heavy metals, and endocrine-disrupting chemicals, may contribute to declining male fertility. The study suggests these environmental toxins can impair sperm function through oxidative stress, hormonal imbalance, and inflammation, and highlights the need for integrating environmental exposure data into fertility assessments.

2026 Frontiers in Medicine
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and Fertility

This paper reviews the growing body of evidence linking microplastic exposure to impaired human fertility, covering how microplastics and associated chemical additives can disrupt reproductive hormones and damage sperm and egg quality. It highlights the need for further research to establish dose-response relationships.

2024 Exon Publications eBooks
Article Tier 2

Secular changes in human reproduction and assisted reproductive technologies

This demographic review examines trends in human fertility and infertility over recent decades, noting that while child survival has improved, infertility affects about 15% of couples worldwide. The paper reviews assisted reproductive technologies as a response to this trend. While not directly about microplastics, there is growing evidence that microplastic exposure is one factor contributing to declining reproductive function in both men and women.

2021 Anthropological Review
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and endocrine disruption: Emerging risks for human fertility

This short communication reviewed emerging evidence that microplastics and nanoplastics disrupt endocrine function and reproductive health, highlighting effects on hormonal regulation, gametogenesis, and fertility outcomes. The authors called for more epidemiological studies to establish links between human microplastic exposure and fertility decline.

2025 Journal of Biomedical Sciences
Article Tier 2

Toxicological effects of micro/nano-plastics on human reproductive health: A review

This review summarizes research on how micro- and nanoplastics affect human reproductive health in both men and women. Evidence from animal and lab studies shows that these particles can accumulate in reproductive organs, disrupt hormones, damage eggs and sperm, and cause inflammation and oxidative stress. While human studies are still limited, the growing body of evidence suggests that microplastic exposure is a potential threat to fertility that warrants further investigation.

2025 Toxicology Letters 7 citations
Clinical Trial Tier 1

A review of the impact of micro‐ and nanoplastics on female reproduction: What we know and gaps in knowledge

This review examines what is known about how micro- and nanoplastics affect female reproductive health. Animal studies show these particles accumulate in ovarian tissue, disrupt hormones, and cause oxidative stress, leading to hormonal imbalances and ovarian damage, though research in humans is still limited.

2025 International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics
Article Tier 2

Understanding the impact of nanoplastics on reproductive health: Exposure pathways, mechanisms, and implications

This review summarizes existing research on how nanoplastics (tiny plastic particles smaller than one micrometer) affect reproductive health in animals and potentially humans. Studies show that nanoplastics can accumulate in reproductive organs including the placenta, and evidence from animal studies links exposure to hormone disruption, reduced fertility, and developmental problems. The authors highlight a significant knowledge gap about nanoplastic effects on human reproduction, despite growing evidence that these particles reach our reproductive systems.

2024 Toxicology 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Male infertility and its link to microplastics: A sterile future

This review examines the link between microplastic exposure and male infertility, summarizing evidence that microplastics and their chemical additives disrupt reproductive hormones, sperm quality, and testicular function in animal models and human studies.

2024 Journal of Biomedical Sciences
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and gynecological tumors: An emerging environmental health concern

This review examines the emerging connection between microplastic exposure and gynecological tumors. Evidence indicates that plastic additives like phthalates and bisphenol A are linked to increased risk of reproductive cancers, and microplastics themselves have been detected directly in human reproductive tissues. The study highlights a growing body of research suggesting that microplastics may contribute to tumor development through hormonal disruption, inflammation, and oxidative stress.

2025 Reproductive Toxicology 2 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

The emerging risk of microplastics and nanoplastics on the microstructure and function of reproductive organs in mammals: A systematic review of preclinical evidence

Preclinical evidence from 12 studies shows micro- and nanoplastics accumulate in mammalian gonads, causing dose-dependent damage including seminiferous degeneration, sperm malformation, reduced follicular growth, and impaired hormone levels through pro-oxidant and pro-inflammatory mechanisms.

2022 Life Sciences 94 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic Particles and Female Fertility: Pathways, Toxicity, and Analytical Challenges

This review examines the pathways, toxicity mechanisms, and analytical challenges associated with microplastic and nanoplastic impacts on female fertility. Evidence from animal studies indicates that these particles can accumulate in ovaries and placental tissue, inducing oxidative stress, inflammation, and granulosa cell death that diminishes ovarian reserve. The study notes that microplastics have been confirmed in human placentas and umbilical cord blood, and may disrupt the hormonal axis governing reproduction.

2026 Microplastics
Article Tier 2

Size- and hydrophobicity-dependent accumulation of microplastics in follicular fluid is linked to impaired ovarian reserve in women undergoing medically assisted reproduction

Researchers measured microplastic concentrations in follicular fluid and blood from women undergoing fertility treatment and found that nearly all samples contained microplastics. Higher microplastic concentrations in follicular fluid were significantly associated with reduced oocyte yield and lower odds of pregnancy, with evidence suggesting that certain hydrophobic polymers selectively accumulate in the ovary.

2026
Article Tier 2

The role of environmental toxins in infertility: Insights from cutting-edge research

Researchers reviewed the effects of environmental toxins including bisphenol A, pesticides, heavy metals, microplastics, and electromagnetic fields on human fertility. The study found that these substances have been linked to both male and female infertility through various mechanisms, and highlights the need for greater awareness and regulatory action to reduce exposure to these reproductive toxicants.

2025 Scripta Medica 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Exposição De Microplásticos E Nanoplásticos Ao Tecido Ovariano: Uma Revisão Integrativa

This integrative review examines the impact of micro- and nanoplastics on female ovarian tissue, synthesizing animal model studies showing damage to follicular structures, increased oxidative stress, and disrupted reproductive hormone signaling.

2025 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Threats of nano/microplastics to reproduction and offspring: Potential mechanisms and perspectives

This review summarized the evidence on how nano- and microplastics threaten reproduction and offspring health across multiple species, including fish, invertebrates, and mammals. The authors outlined potential mechanisms by which these plastic particles disrupt endocrine function, gonadal development, and embryonic development.

2024 Journal of Toxicological Studies 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in ovarian function and ozone-based mitigation strategies: Emerging evidence and translational implications

This review synthesized emerging evidence that microplastics accumulate in human follicular fluid, oocytes, placenta, and semen, causing oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and meiotic disruption in reproductive cells, and discussed ozone-based strategies as potential mitigation approaches.

2025 Current Research in Toxicology
Article Tier 2

Plastics and its effect to women reproductive systems

This article reviews how plastic pollution, including microplastics and the hormone-disrupting chemicals they contain, may affect women's reproductive health. It connects widespread plastic use to endocrine disruption, menstrual irregularities, and fertility concerns, though much of the evidence comes from laboratory and animal studies.

2020 Majalah Obstetri & Ginekologi 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Disruptors on Male Reproduction – Emerging Risk Factors

This review of emerging risk factors for male infertility covers endocrine-disrupting chemicals, heavy metals, pesticides, radiation, and pharmaceuticals, including a section on microplastics and the plastic-associated chemicals that have been linked to hormonal disruption and reduced sperm quality. While microplastics are one of several disruptors discussed rather than the sole focus, the paper is relevant because it places microplastic exposure within the broader context of the global decline in sperm counts and male reproductive health over recent decades.

2023 Bangladesh Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism
Article Tier 2

Plastic pollution in human reproduction: should we worry?

Researchers reviewed evidence that micro- and nanoplastics can cross the placenta, enter amniotic fluid, and accumulate in reproductive tissues in both men and women. Animal and cell studies suggest these particles may reduce egg and sperm quality and harm fetal development, though most experiments use higher doses than people realistically encounter.

2025 Reproductive BioMedicine Online
Article Tier 2

Implications of environmental toxicants on ovarian follicles: how it can adversely affect the female fertility?

This review examines how environmental toxicants, including endocrine disrupting chemicals, heavy metals, agrochemicals, and chemicals used in plastic and cosmetic industries, can adversely affect female fertility. Researchers found that these substances can interfere with follicle development and lead to conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome, premature ovarian insufficiency, and meiotic defects. The study highlights the difficulty of isolating individual risk factors since multiple toxicants often share common pathways of reproductive harm.

2021 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 61 citations
Clinical Trial Tier 1

Reproductive toxicity and related mechanisms of micro(nano)plastics in terrestrial mammals: Review of current evidence.

This review of terrestrial mammal studies found that micro- and nanoplastics induce reproductive toxicity through oxidative stress, inflammation, endocrine disruption, and DNA damage, affecting both male and female fertility. In males, effects include blood-testis barrier disruption and impaired spermatogenesis, while females show compromised oocyte maturation, ovarian fibrosis, and diminished ovarian reserve, with particles also capable of crossing the maternal-fetal interface.

2024 Ecotoxicology and environmental safety
Article Tier 2

Toxicity of microplastics and nanoplastics: invisible killers of female fertility and offspring health

This review summarizes research on how microplastics and nanoplastics affect female fertility across multiple species, from reproductive failure to developmental problems in offspring. The tiny particles can infiltrate the body through food, air, and skin, accumulating in reproductive tissues where they disrupt hormones and damage eggs. While animal studies cannot be directly applied to humans, the consistent findings across species raise serious concerns about the potential impact of microplastic exposure on women's reproductive health.

2023 Frontiers in Physiology 54 citations