Microplastics from face mask impairs sperm motility

Ziyi Lin; Zijie Li; Shuqin Ji; Hoi Shing Lo; Baki Billah; Ayesha Sharmin; Wing-Yee Lui; William Ka Fai Tse; James Kar-Hei Fang; Keng Po Lai; Lei Li

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116422

Microplastics from face mask impairs sperm motility

Mar Pollut Bull. 2024 May 14:203:116422. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116422. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ziyi Lin¹, Zijie Li², Shuqin Ji², Hoi Shing Lo³, Baki Billah⁴, Ayesha Sharmin⁵, Wing-Yee Lui⁶, William Ka Fai Tse⁷, James Kar-Hei Fang⁸, Keng Po Lai⁹, Lei Li¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ The Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
² The Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.
³ Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁴ Department of Zoology, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
⁶ School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
⁷ Laboratory of Developmental Disorders and Toxicology, Center for Promotion of International Education and Research, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
⁸ Department of Food Science and Nutrition, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong; State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong.
⁹ Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Integrative Omics, Guilin Medical University, Education Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. Electronic address: kengplai@cityu.edu.hk.
¹⁰ The Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Connectome and Behavior, CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Connectome and Manipulation, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science-Shenzhen Fundamental Research Institutions, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: saralilei@siat.ac.cn.

PMID: 38749155
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116422

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented plastic pollution from single-used personal protective equipment (PPE), especially face masks, in coastal and marine environments. The secondary pollutants, microplastics from face masks (mask MP), rise concern about their detrimental effects on marine organisms, terrestrial organisms and even human. Using a mouse model, oral exposure to mask MP at two doses, 0.1 and 1 mg MP/day for 21 days, caused no change in animal locomotion, total weight, or sperm counts, but caused damage to sperm motility with increased curvilinear velocity (VCL). The high-dose mask MP exposure caused a significant decrease in linearity (LIN) of sperm motility. Further testicular transcriptomic analysis revealed perturbed pathways related to spermatogenesis, oxidative stress, inflammation, metabolism and energy production. Collectively, our findings substantiate that microplastics from face masks yield adverse effects on mammalian reproductive capacity, highlighting the need for improved plastic waste management and development of environmentally friendly materials.

Keywords: Face mask pollution; Microplastics; Reproductive toxicity; Sperm quality; Sperm velocity.