Male mice exposed to nanoplastics pass down severe lung damage to their children and grandchildren through their sperm.
April 23, 2026
Original Paper
Paternal Exposure to Polystyrene Nanoplastics Induces Inter- and Transgenerational Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia-Like Damage in Male Offspring by FtMt Hypermethylation-Mediated Ferroptosis
SSRN · 6626953
The Takeaway
Plastic particles don't just affect the animal that eats them, they cause epigenetic changes that skip across three generations. These changes trigger a specific type of cell death called ferroptosis in the lungs of offspring who were never exposed to plastic themselves. The damage mimics bronchopulmonary dysplasia, a condition that makes breathing difficult and often fatal. This discovery proves that environmental toxins can leave a permanent chemical mark on a family tree long after the original exposure.
From the abstract
Background: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a major cause of chronic lung disease in both preterm infants and adults, but its etiology remains incompletely understood.<br><br>Methods:In this study, F0 generation mice were exposed to PS-NPs, and F1 to F3 generations were obtained by breeding. Multi-omics sequencing including whole genome methylation sequencing, single cell transcriptome sequencing and transcriptome sequencing was performed on the lungs of offspring. The levels of Fe²⁺, lipid