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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Microplastics Exposure Is Harmful to Male Reproductive Health
ClearMicroplastics 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: 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.
Microplastics May Be a Significant Cause of Male Infertility
This review examines the potential link between microplastic exposure and the decline in male fertility observed over recent decades. Researchers reviewed evidence showing that microplastics can accumulate in reproductive tissues and may damage sperm quality through oxidative stress, hormonal disruption, and inflammatory responses. The study suggests that microplastics deserve serious attention as a possible contributing factor to rising male infertility rates.
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 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.
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.
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 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.
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.
Unravelling the potential mechanisms of nano- and microplastic toxicity to the male reproductive system: A systematic review
This systematic review found that micro- and nanoplastics accumulate in the testes and epididymis in rodent models, disrupting the blood-testis barrier, increasing germ cell death, reducing sperm motility, and causing hormone imbalance through oxidative stress and inflammation. Smaller nanoplastics penetrate tissues more readily for molecular disruption, while larger microplastics cause greater structural damage.
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.
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.
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.
Microplastics: unraveling the signaling pathways involved in reproductive health
This review examines the effects of microplastics on male and female reproductive health, focusing on the metabolic pathways involved in compromised gamete quality, toxicity, apoptosis, and DNA damage. Evidence indicates that microplastics can increase oxidative stress leading to developmental abnormalities, epigenetic changes, and reduced gamete quality, though research on mammalian and human reproductive effects remains limited compared to studies in aquatic organisms.
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.
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.
The Pressing Issue of Micro- and Nanoplastic Contamination: Profiling the Reproductive Alterations Mediated by Oxidative Stress
This review examined how micro- and nanoplastics affect reproductive health across aquatic and land-based organisms, focusing on oxidative stress as the primary damage mechanism. Researchers found that these plastic particles can reach the gonads through the bloodstream and even accumulate in human and mouse placenta, with harmful effects on sperm and egg development, embryo growth, and offspring survival. The severity of reproductive harm appears to increase with smaller particle sizes and longer exposure times.
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.
Effects of micro(nano)plastics on the reproductive system: A review
This review summarizes research on how micro and nanoplastics affect the reproductive system in both animal studies and cell experiments. Evidence indicates these particles can cross biological barriers, accumulate in reproductive organs, and disrupt hormones, egg development, and sperm quality. While human studies are still limited, the animal data suggests microplastic exposure may be a meaningful concern for reproductive health.
The hidden threat: Unraveling the impact of microplastics on reproductive health
This review summarizes how microplastics disrupt the reproductive system in both males and females by interfering with hormone signaling, damaging the blood-testis barrier, impairing sperm production, and causing problems in the ovaries and uterus. The authors also note that microplastic exposure may affect offspring development, including their future reproductive capacity and metabolism.
Mechanistic insights into microplastic-induced reproductive toxicity in aquatic organisms: A comprehensive review
This review summarizes how microplastics cause reproductive harm in aquatic organisms by disrupting hormones, triggering oxidative stress, and interfering with cell death pathways. These effects lead to reduced fertility, abnormal egg and sperm development, and changes that can pass to future generations. Since microplastics accumulate through the food chain, these reproductive effects in aquatic life could have broader implications for ecosystem health and the seafood that humans consume.
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.