Chinese Research Finds Microplastics in All Semen Samples
TapTechNews June 9th news, a survey conducted by Chinese researchers in the field of public health found that microplastics were detected in all the semen samples provided by the participants.
Researchers recruited 36 healthy adult men in Jinan, and none of them were engaged in plastic-related industries. The researchers tested the semen samples provided by the participants, aiming to analyze the content, types of microplastics in the samples, and their associations with sperm quality parameters.
During the research, the researchers used Raman spectroscopy technology to identify, quantify, and classify microplastic polymers. At the same time, they also evaluated sperm motility through computer-aided analysis and evaluated sperm morphology with the Diff-Quik staining method.
It was found that all semen samples contained microplastics, with an average of about two microplastic particles in each sample (size range from 0.72 to 7.02 microns). The detected microplastics included eight different polymer types, among which polystyrene (31%) had the highest content.
Researchers pointed out that sperm exposed to polystyrene showed a higher forward motility rate than that in the polyvinyl chloride group. The research said that although abnormal sperm morphology was observed, they had no significant correlation with specific plastic types.
An important finding of this study is that the samples containing polyvinyl chloride plastic particles had lower sperm motility. This finding may help explain the reason for the decline in fertility rates worldwide.
From the deep sea to the top of the atmosphere, microplastics can be found almost everywhere. Previous studies have shown that the plastic microparticles consumed by people on average per week is equivalent to the weight of a credit card.
Researchers said that plastic can enter the human body through various ways, such as drinking plastic bottled beverages, inhaling plastic particles in the air, or eating heated food contained in plastic containers.
Researchers further pointed out that nowadays people can hardly avoid ingesting microplastics. They emphasized that since different types of microplastic polymers will have different degrees of impact on sperm forward motility ability, there is an urgent need to carry out further research to clarify how the ubiquitous microplastics and their potential reproductive toxicity affect male fertility.
TapTechNews noted that according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the potential harms associated with microplastics mainly come from three aspects: physical particles, chemicals, and microbial pathogens within the biofilm. The existing limited evidence shows that the harm to human health of the chemicals carried by microplastics in drinking water and the biofilm is relatively low. However, for the toxicity of the physical harm of plastic particles (especially nanoparticle-sized particles), there is currently insufficient information to draw a definite conclusion. The World Health Organization previously said that absorption studies show that microplastic particles larger than 150 microns may be directly excreted out of the body through feces. It is expected that the intake of smaller particles will be limited, although the absorption and distribution of very small microplastic part icles, including nanoplastics, may be higher.
This research result was published in the recently published journal General of Environmental Science.