A new study from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) has found that a father’s exposure to microplastics can cause metabolic problems in his offspring. The research, published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society, used mouse models to examine how environmental pollutants might affect future generations.
Microplastics are tiny plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in size that come from consumer products and industrial waste. Previous studies have detected microplastics in human reproductive systems, but this is the first research to show a link between paternal exposure and health issues in offspring.
To investigate these effects, researchers fed male mice a regular diet but exposed them to microplastics. Their offspring were then given a high-fat diet to reveal any metabolic disorders that might otherwise remain hidden under normal conditions. This method mimicked unhealthy eating patterns common in Western diets.
The study found that female offspring of fathers exposed to microplastics were more likely to develop metabolic disorders than those whose fathers were not exposed, even though all offspring ate the same high-fat diet. “The exact reasons for this sex-specific effect are still unclear,” said Changcheng Zhou, professor of biomedical sciences at UCR School of Medicine and lead author of the study. “In our study, female offspring developed diabetic phenotypes. We observed upregulation of pro-inflammatory and pro-diabetic genes in their livers — genes previously linked to diabetes. These changes were not seen in male offspring.”
While male offspring did not develop diabetes, they showed a slight but significant decrease in fat mass. Female offspring had decreased muscle mass and increased signs of diabetes.
Researchers used PANDORA-seq technology developed at UCR to understand how these traits were passed down. They discovered that exposure to microplastics changed small molecules carried by sperm—specifically small non-coding RNAs like tsRNAs and rsRNAs—which help regulate gene expression during development.
“To our knowledge, ours is the first study to show that paternal exposure to microplastics can affect sperm small non-coding RNA profiles and induce metabolic disorders in offspring,” Zhou said.
Zhou noted that these findings suggest plastic pollution may leave biological marks on future generations: “Our discovery opens a new frontier in environmental health, shifting the focus toward how both parents’ environments contribute to the health of their children,” he said. “These findings from a mouse study likely have implications for humans. Men planning to have children should consider reducing their exposure to harmful substances like microplastics to protect both their health and that of their future children.”
The team plans further research into whether maternal exposure has similar effects and how such risks could be reduced.
Other contributors included Seung Hyun Park, Jianfei Pan, Ting-An Lin, Sijie Tang, Sihem Cheloufi (UCR), Xudong Zhang and Qi Chen (University of Utah School of Medicine), and Tong Zhou (University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine). The work was partially funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health.
The paper is titled “Paternal microplastic exposure alters sperm small non-coding RNAs and affects offspring metabolic health in mice.”
