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. 2023 Aug 28;14:1254886. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1254886

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Copyright © 2023 Geng, Liu, Hu, Huang, Li, Ma, Wu, Dong, Song, Xu, Zhang and Song.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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The sources, transfer, and reproductive toxicity of microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs). (A) According to the different sources, MPs/NPs can be separated into primary and secondary type. Primary MPs/NPs have been generated and added to a range of daily necessities in order to meet business purposes. Plastic debris released into the environment will further degrade as secondary MPs/NPs. MPs/NPs can be transferred to human body through inhalation, ingestion, and skin contact, which pose a great threat to female reproduction and offspring health. (B) Exposure to MPs/NPs will interfere with reproductive endocrine in female, which will inhibit gonadotropic hormones and steroidogenesis. It will also cause a decline of energy allocated to reproduction and induce oxidative stress in female reproductive system. In addition, MPs/NPs may also affect female reproduction through DNA damage and epigenetic regulation.