Microplastics are linked to less and less sperm in men worldwide

Published 21 May 2024 at 17.45

Foreign. Microplastics were found in all testicles examined in a new study. According to the researchers, it could all be linked to the reduced number of sperm in men worldwide.

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The researchers tested 23 human testicles, as well as 47 testicles from dogs . They found microplastic contamination in all samples.

The human testes had been preserved and therefore their sperm count could not be measured. However, the number of sperm in the dogs' testicles could be checked and was lower in samples with higher contamination with PVC. The study shows a correlation, but further research is needed, according to the researchers, to prove that microplastics cause declining sperm.

Sperm counts in men have been dropping sharply for decades, and chemical pollutants such as pesticides have been pointed to as culprits in various studies.

Microplastics have also recently been detected in human blood, placentas and breast milk, suggesting widespread contamination of human bodies. The effect on health is still unknown, but microplastics have been shown to cause damage to human cells in a laboratory environment.

Large amounts of plastic waste are dumped into the environment, especially in the third world, and microplastics have polluted the entire planet. People consume the particles through food and drink and by breathing them in.

– At first I doubted whether microplastics could penetrate the reproductive system. When I first got the results for dogs, I was surprised. I was even more surprised when I got the results for humans, says Professor Xiaozhong Yu of the University of New Mexico according to The Guardian.

The testicles analyzed were obtained from autopsies in 2016. The men were between 16 and 88 years old when they died .

– The impact on the younger generation may be more worrying, says Xiaozhong Yu.

The human testicles in the study were found to have a plastic concentration almost three times higher than that found in dog testicles: 330 micrograms per gram of tissue compared to 123 micrograms. Polyethylene, used in plastic bags and bottles, was the most common microplastic found, followed by PVC.