Skip to main content

Are Microplastics In the Air Putting Your Fertility At Risk?

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Dec 18, 2024.

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 18, 2024 -- Microscopic plastic particles in the air could be contributing to a wide variety of health problems, including lung and colon cancers.

Tires and degrading garbage shed tiny pieces of plastic which become airborne, creating a form of air pollution that’s not very well understood, a new review says.

“These microplastics are basically particulate matter air pollution, and we know this type of air pollution is harmful,” said researcher Tracey Woodruff, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco.

Microplastics are less than 5 millimeters in size, smaller than a grain of rice, researchers said in background notes.

Companies around the world produce nearly 460 million tons of plastic each year, and that’s projected to increase to 1.1 billion tons by 2050, researchers said.

A major source of airborne plastic is driving, researchers noted. Tires wear down as they rub against the road surface, sending microplastics into the air.

For the review, published Dec. 18 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, researchers analyzed data gathered on about 3,000 prior studies.

The results showed that airborne microplastics can contribute to cancer, lung problems and infertility.

Most of the studies in the review used animals, but researchers said the conclusions likely also apply to humans.

“We urge regulatory agencies and policy leaders to consider the growing evidence of health harms from microplastics, including colon and lung cancer,” lead researcher Nicholas Chartres, a senior research fellow with the University of Sydney, said in a UCSF news release. “We hope state leaders will take immediate action to prevent further exposures.”

Sources

  • University of California, San Francisco, news release, Dec. 18, 2024

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted December 2024

Read this next

Human Fertility Levels Need To Be Higher To Avoid Extinction

THURSDAY, May 1, 2025 — Billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made headlines with dire warnings that declining birth rates are an “existential crisis” for...

Bacterial Toxin Implicated In Young Adult Colon Cancers

MONDAY, April 28, 2025 -- Colon cancer cases have been increasing among younger adults, and now researchers think they’ve identified a potential culprit. A bacterial toxin...

Colon Cancer Screening Program Cut Cases, Deaths, Eliminated Racial Gaps

FRIDAY, April 25, 2025 -- A Kaiser Permanente colon cancer screening initiative put a huge dent in cancer cases and deaths over two decades, a new study says. The systematic...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.