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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Microplastics May Be a Significant Cause of Male Infertility
ClearMicroplastics: A Threat for Male Fertility
This review examines the growing evidence that microplastics may pose a threat to male fertility in mammals. Researchers found that these tiny plastic particles can enter the body through food and water, accumulate in tissues, and carry environmental pollutants that may act as hormone disruptors. Recent studies suggest that microplastic exposure is associated with changes in sperm quality, making them a potential concern for reproductive health.
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.
Targeting Modifiable Risks: Molecular Mechanisms and Population Burden of Lifestyle Factors on Male Genitourinary Health
This systematic review examines how lifestyle factors, including microplastic exposure, affect male reproductive health. Research shows that microplastics, along with other environmental contaminants, may contribute to declining sperm quality and male infertility, which now affects up to 50% of infertility cases worldwide.
Microplastics Exposure Is Harmful to Male Reproductive Health
This chapter reviewed evidence on how microplastic exposure may harm male reproductive health through multiple pathways including ingestion and inhalation. The study examined mechanisms by which microplastics may disrupt reproductive function, including hormonal interference, oxidative stress, and inflammation in reproductive tissues, suggesting that widespread environmental microplastic contamination warrants attention as a potential factor in male fertility concerns.
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.
Microplastics and impaired male reproductive health—exploring biological pathways of harm: a narrative review
This narrative review summarizes the evidence that microplastics may harm male reproductive health through oxidative stress, hormone disruption, inflammation, and direct damage to reproductive cells. While animal studies show concerning effects on sperm quality, testicular function, and fertility, human studies are still lacking. The review calls for urgent research on microplastic impacts on human male fertility and for policies to reduce microplastic exposure.
Microplastics and male reproductive system: A comprehensive review based on cellular and molecular effects
This comprehensive review examines how microplastics affect the male reproductive system at cellular and molecular levels, drawing on studies from multiple scientific databases. Researchers found that microplastics can damage testicular structure and function, impair spermatogenesis, and disrupt sperm parameters through mechanisms including oxidative stress, inflammation, and activation of cell death pathways. The review highlights that microplastics reduce ATP production and trigger signaling cascades that may contribute to male fertility problems.
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.
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.
Microplastics and human fertility: A comprehensive review of their presence in human samples and reproductive implication
This review examines the growing evidence linking microplastic and nanoplastic exposure to potential effects on human fertility. Researchers noted that these tiny plastic particles have been detected in blood, placenta, and seminal fluid, suggesting continuous systemic exposure and the ability to cross key biological barriers. Animal studies indicate that microplastics may affect reproductive health through oxidative stress, hormonal disruption, and tissue damage, though more standardized human research is needed.
Climate change, microplastics, and male infertility
This brief commentary discusses how climate change and exposure to environmental pollutants, including microplastics and endocrine-disrupting chemicals, may be contributing to the documented decline in male fertility over recent decades. While the exact causes remain unknown, the authors highlight the need for more research into how these environmental factors affect reproductive health.
The Presence of Microplastics in Human Semen and Their Associations with Semen Quality
Researchers found microplastics in 75% of human semen samples tested, with an average of 17 particles per gram, including 15 different plastic types. Notably, higher levels of polystyrene microplastics were associated with lower sperm concentration and reduced sperm motility. This is one of the first studies to directly link microplastic presence in human semen to poorer sperm quality, adding to growing concerns about plastics and male fertility.
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.
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.
Effects of nano and microplastics on the reproduction system: In vitro and in vivo studies review
This review summarizes both lab and animal studies on how micro and nanoplastics affect the reproductive system in males and females. Evidence shows that microplastics can reduce sperm quality, damage ovaries, disrupt hormone levels, and even cross the placenta during pregnancy. The findings raise significant concerns about how widespread microplastic exposure might contribute to fertility problems and reproductive health issues in humans.
Unraveling the threat: Microplastics and nano-plastics' impact on reproductive viability across ecosystems
This review summarizes research on how microplastics and nanoplastics affect reproduction across many species, from aquatic invertebrates to mammals including humans. In males, exposure leads to testicular damage, lower sperm quality, and hormone disruption; in females, it causes ovarian and uterine problems, inflammation, and reduced fertility. The evidence also shows these reproductive harms can be passed to offspring, raising serious concerns about long-term effects on human fertility.
Exposure to microplastics and human reproductive outcomes: A systematic review
This systematic review examined evidence linking microplastic exposure to reproductive health problems in humans. While early findings raise concerns, the review emphasizes that more high-quality studies are needed to clearly establish how microplastics affect fertility and reproduction.
The Microplastics and Human Health: Focus on the Reproductive System
This review examined evidence that microplastics accumulate in human reproductive tissues and evaluated their potential effects on fertility and reproductive health. The authors found microplastics detected in testes, ovaries, placenta, and semen, and summarized mechanistic evidence linking them to hormonal disruption, oxidative stress, and impaired gamete function.
Detection and characterization of microplastics in the human testis and semen
Researchers detected microplastics in both human testis tissue and semen samples for the first time, finding an average of about 12 particles per gram in testis and different plastic types in semen. Polystyrene dominated in testis while polyethylene and PVC were most common in semen, providing critical evidence that microplastics can pollute the male reproductive system and raising concerns about potential fertility impacts.
Environmental and microbiome determinants of sperm quality: a narrative review on male health
This narrative review examines how environmental factors, including microplastics and other emerging contaminants, affect male sperm quality and fertility. The study suggests that pollutants such as heavy metals, pesticides, phthalates, PFAS, air pollution, and microplastics can impair sperm parameters through various mechanisms, and highlights the role of the reproductive microbiome in mediating these environmental effects.
Research Progress in Reproductive Toxicity of Micro- and Nanoplastics on Males and Its Mechanisms
This review summarized research on the reproductive toxicity of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) in males, finding that MNPs accumulate in reproductive organs and cause toxicity through oxidative stress, hormonal disruption, and DNA damage, with implications for both animal and human reproductive health.
The Threat of Micro-/Nanoplastics to Male Fertility: A Review of the Data and the Importance of Future Research
This review synthesizes findings from 21 studies examining how micro- and nanoplastics and their associated endocrine-disrupting chemicals affect male reproductive health at the cellular level. Researchers found evidence of multiple toxicity mechanisms including damage to the blood-testis barrier, disruption of hormone signaling, oxidative stress, and structural damage to testicular tissues. The study notes that while these findings from cell and animal studies are concerning, translating the results to human health requires further research with realistic exposure conditions.
O-192 The presence of microplastics in testicular tissue: implications for male infertility
This meta-analysis investigated the presence of microplastics in testicular tissue and found evidence of microplastic infiltration that may be linked to male infertility. The findings suggest that microplastic exposure could affect reproductive health, though more research is needed to fully understand the connection.
Reproductive toxicity of micro‐ and nanoplastics: Insights from experimental and human studies
This review examined 40 studies on how micro- and nanoplastics may affect human reproduction, finding that these particles have been detected in breast milk, placenta, ovaries, testes, and semen. Animal studies have linked plastic particle exposure to reduced sperm quality, disrupted egg development, smaller litter sizes, and possible effects passed to future generations. The evidence suggests that microplastic exposure may be a contributing factor worth investigating as global fertility rates continue to decline.