This study on the presence of plastic in our sperm alarms researchers

Plastic in our sperm? This is what a recent Chinese study announces, which even reveals that several types of microplastics alter our spermatozoa. Worrying.

Fertility of man decreases

The quality of our sperm decreases. It is a fact. A drop in sperm concentration due to pollutionand exposure to chemicals in the environment. We can also cite smoking, obesity and obesity. or even stress as factors.

Several studies have been carried out. carried out, notably that published in Human Reproduction Updatein 2022, which suggests that the sperm concentration has significantly decreased. between 1973 and 2018, and even more worrying, that the data suggests that this global decline continues at a rapid pace. an accelerated pace since the beginning of the 21st century.

plastic in our testicles

But even more unlikely, another cause of this decline would be linked to plastic. Reported by the very serious American media The Guardian, a Chinese study published in the journal Science of The Total Environnementadvances to havefound traces of microplastics in the entirety of the product sperm samplesthat she tested on forty healthy men.

Ning Li, researcher at University of Qingdao and co-author of the study, says that“more and more research tends to show the extent of the consequences of exposure to microplastics on health. It is therefore imperative to measure the extent of contamination in humans and its consequences on reproduction.»

Indeed, if these particles have té found in all healthy subjects, it remains, at To date, it is difficult to precisely measure their impact on health. and fertility.“Microplastics are ubiquitous environmental contaminants that have been detected in human semen from polluted areas, but their prevalence and effects in the general population remain largely unexplored,” emphasize the authors of the work.< /p>

eight different types of plastics found

By carrying out their study, the researchers identified by less than eight different types of microplastics, including PS (polystyrene), PE (polythene) and PVC (polyvinyl chloride), than found in plastic packaging. Even more disturbing,mobility spermatozoa is altered depending on the type of plastic they contain. For example, the study suggests that sperm exposed to cancer polystyrene, for example, shows high mobility. spermatozoa higher than the infected one with polyvinyl chloride.

The effects of exposure to different microplastic polymers on mobility The progressive variation of spermatozoa varies, which highlights the need for to continue research into how microplastics affect fertility. male due to their omnipresence and toxicity. potential for reproduction», conclude the researchers.

For his part, Xavier Coumoul, toxicologist and director of the Inserm Metatox team explains to 20 minutes that “When you ingest glyphosate, it passes into the bloodstream and is eliminated. in your urine. You are able to process it in the body and eliminate it in the urine quite easily. Even if we talk about « microplastics », they can be 50 to 100%. 100 times larger than a glyphosate molecule. The size scale plays a big part in elimination. Once he enters in the body, it is more difficult to bring it out. 

This study corroborates another published in 2022 which lingered on its side à specimens of mice. She indicates on her side: that microplastics reduce the sperm count in subjects, and cause hormonal disruptions. «This indicates that exposure to microplastics could pose a chronic and cumulative health risk reproductive performance of men,” says the researcher of the recent study Ning Li. 

This is not the first study that tends to demonstrate the impact of plastic in human sperm. An article published last May in the journal Toxicological Sciences mentioned analyzes carried out in New Mexico on 23 samples of male semen. For their part, Italian researchers explained in another research that they had found microplastic fragments in six out of ten human sperm samples.