Environmental pollution by microplastics (MPs) causes health damage (1,2) that may also affect fertility. The EcoFoodFertility project at the University of Rome Tor Vergata is investigating the mechanisms of contamination and possible remedies.
The first studies of the project started from the Terra dei Fuochi in Campania and then expanded the survey to include lifestyles and anthropometric indices of residents in areas with different environmental pressures, including international ones. The project aims to represent itself as a model for innovative policies to safeguard public health.
Introduction
Fragmentation of plastics, caused by chemical and physical aging related to high environmental temperatures, frictional forces, and UV exposure, is an important source of contamination. Despite the now prevalent role of plastics in daily life, human exposure to microplastic contamination has, over time, adverse health effects.
In the literature, the environmental presence of microplastics has been extensively studied. Specifically, MPs have been detected in air, soil (3), aquatic environments including marine species, and in several edible animal species (seafood and chicken) and food, beverage, and drinking water samples (4).
Human health risks
The risk to human health is a consequence of the release into the environment not only of micro- and nanoplastics, but also of additives, including unreacted monomers, organic and inorganic compounds, and other substances used in the formulation of plastic materials.
Scientific studies have demonstrated the endocrine disrupting activity and carcinogenic properties of various additives, such as brominated flame retardants (BFRs), phenol derivatives (alkylphenols and bisphenol A), di(2-ethylhexyl) adipate (DEHA), and phthalic acid esters or phthalates (PAEs) (5).
Microplastic contamination and fertility
Some substances in microplastics can act as endocrine disruptors and impair fertility, causing endocrine disruption and reproductive problems.
One study (6) confirmed that microplastics induce testicular disorders in mammals by also revealing the critical role of the gut microbiota in PS-MPs (polystyrene)-induced reproductive toxicity and investigated the mechanism underlying gut microbial dysregulation.
To demonstrate this, polystyrene mice were fed polystyrene for 90 days. Obvious histological damage, spermatogenetic disorders, and inhibition of hormone synthesis were observed in mice exposed to PS-MPs. In addition, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) was performed to recipient mice (not exposed to MPs) that showed altered gut microbiome and high abundance of Bacteroides and Prevotellaceae, which positively correlated with testicular disorder. The study outlines a close correlation between gut microbiota and male reproduction.
The EcoFoodFertility Project
Into this correlation comes the research project
EcoFoodFertility
, a multicenter human biomonitoring study, with recruitment areas covering both Italy, with several areas of Campania, including the Terra dei Fuochi, and European countries.
The project aims to identify the most sensitive and early indicators of environmental damage with predictive potential for diseases not only reproductive. The goal is to define a line for primary and preprimary prevention to reduce the burden and indicate resilience measures to counteract/modulate the effects of pollutants on reproductive and general health (7). Recently, the project has also opened up on the women’s side(EcoFoodFertility for Women).
The stages of the project
EcoFoodFertility
Is composed of two phases:
- the “Environmental and General Health Sentinel Seed,” in order to investigate the predictive ability of sperm mitochondria to detect microplastic contamination. The first phase focuses on damage assessment and measurement,
- the “Reclamation of Polluted Man,” introduces nutrition as a measure to compensate, counteract and/or modulate chemical and physical pollution damage.
The proposed model consists of organic plant foods, healthy lifestyles, and nutraceutical foods critical for detoxification from environmental pollutants (such as microplastics) to prevent and treat health and fertility problems.
The sentinel seed of Environmental and General Health
“The Sentinel Seed” is the analytical phase, assesses through biomonitoring on blood and seminal fluid of samples homogeneous in age and lifestyle of healthy males between 16 and 35 years old residing in different areas of Campania, exposed to different environmental pressure index any differences in terms of bioaccumulation of different contaminants (heavy metals, dioxins, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides, bisphenols, phthalates, parabens, nanoparticles) and damage/effect markers (oxidative, genetic, epigenetic, proteomic, lipidomic, metabolomic etc.).
Specifically, the project study (5) analyzed the presence of microplastics in urine samples from six patients from different cities in southern Italy (three men and three women) to quantify and determine contamination. From the analyses of the four samples, PVA and PVC were found in one female sample and PP and PE in three male samples. This preliminary study suggests that MPs may pass through the gastrointestinal tract and are eliminated through biological processes.
Reclamation of polluted man through diet
“Human Remediation” is the second part of the project focuses on the intervention to test the extent to which lifestyle and especially certain nutritional and/or nutraceutical approaches can modulate the impact of pollution on the body and possibly mitigate and/or counteract the bioaccumulation of pollutants and/or their effects on health.
He demonstrated how nutrition can prevent and treat contamination induced by environmental contaminants and how the Mediterranean diet can improve seminal parameters. In addition, if the Mediterranean diet is based on organic products, they are pesticide-free and have a higher content of bioactive substances in comparison with non-organic products. They thus exert even more beneficial action toward human health in general by promoting the elimination of pollutants in tissues, fluids and/or mitigating their effects.
As part of the project collaborations and synergies were developed with organic distribution networks, organic and biodynamic farms in order to create a Food Chain for Environmental Health that can provide Eubiotic (good-for-life) foods capable of detoxifying and reducing the bioaccumulation of contaminants, to concretize the ‘natural reclamation of Man’ Of the polluted areas of Italy and Europe.
Conclusion and future prospects
The male reproductive system is sensitive to a wide range of toxic substances that affect development and reproduction, including environmental pollutants, and studies suggest that human sperm is an early marker of environmental quality and overall health.
Consequently, environmental health must take into account the sensitive developmental stages of reproductive health: intrauterine life, infancy and puberty, particularly vulnerable stages that must be protected to safeguard the future of the next generation.
Biomarkers of reproductive health should therefore be considered as early indicators of environmental pressure and spies for general health risk with predictive value for chronic-degenerative diseases, to this end the model proposed by the project could be considered as a key study and focus to be included in the public policy agenda of primary prevention for monitoring and health prevention programs, in particular, in environmental risk areas.
Giulia Pietrollini
Notes
(1) Marta Strinati and Dario Dongo. Microplastics even in our lungs. The British study. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 12.4.22
(2) Marta Strinati. Microplastics in blood, first evidence in humans. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 25.3.2022
(3) Marta Strinati. Microplastics in pesticides, the CIEL report. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 20.7.22
(4) Marta Strinati. Microplastics in mineral water. The French report. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 3.8.22
(5) Pironti, C.; Notarstefano, V.; Ricciardi, M.; Motta, O.; Giorgini, E.; Montano, L. First Evidence of Microplastics in Human Urine, a Preliminary Study of Intake in the Human Body. Toxics 2023, 11, 40. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics11010040
(6) Wen S, Zhao Y, Liu S, et al. Microplastics-perturbed gut microbiota triggered the testicular disorder in male mice: Via fecal microbiota transplantation. Environ Pollut. 2022 Sep 15;309:119789. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119789. Epub 2022 Jul 14. PMID: 35843456.
Graduated in industrial biotechnology and passionate about sustainable development.
