Peer-reviewed study's findings raises fresh question on the toxic substances' impact on fertility
Microplastics have been found for the first time in human ovary follicular fluid, raising a new round of questions about the ubiquitous and toxic substances' potential impact on women's fertility. The new peer-reviewed research published in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety checked for microplastics in the follicular fluid of 18 women undergoing assisted reproductive treatment at a fertility clinic in Salerno, Italy, and detected them in 14. Follicular fluid provides essential nutrients and biochemical signals for developing eggs. Contaminating that process with bits of plastic quite likely has implications for fertility, hormonal balance and overall reproductive health, the authors wrote. The findings represent a major step toward figuring out how and why microplastics impact women's reproductive health, but are also "very alarming", Luigi Montano, a researcher at the University of Rome and study lead author, said. "This discovery should serve as an important warning signal about the invasiveness of these emerging contaminants in the female reproductive system," the study states. From the top of Mt Everest to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, microplastics and smaller nanoplastics have been detected throughout the environment. Food is thought to be a main exposure route: recent studies found them in all meat and produce products tested. Microplastics are particularly dangerous because they can contain any…