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There are microplastics in women’s ovaries now

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Brighton, UK
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Researchers are still exploring how the discovery could impact fertility.

Microplastics were found in human ovaries for the first time last June. Yet the news largely flew under the radar. Perhaps this reflects our collective desensitisation to all plastic-based health warnings.

After all, when you consider how embedded the material has become in our lives, it’s easy to feel helpless. Why spend time worrying about something that’s quite literally become a part of our biological makeup?

Still, the discovery that microplastics are now present in women’s ovaries is alarming. Researchers found traces in human ovary follicular fluid in 2025, raising a new round of questions about the ubiquitous substance and its potential impact on human fertility.

The answers are still to be found, but peer-reviewed research, which checked for microplastics in the follicular fluid of 18 women undergoing assisted reproductive treatment at a fertility clinic, found traces of microplastics in 14 of them.

Follicular fluid provides essential nutrients and biochemical signals for developing eggs, meaning the presence of plastic is likely to have implications for fertility, hormonal balance and reproductive health.

Microplastics are defined as small pieces of plastic under 5 millimetres long. They’re everywhere, in our air, cleaning products, clothing, makeup, bottled water and food. They typically enter the body through inhalation, skin absorption, or, increasingly, the consumption of food and beverages. In this day and age, despite a person’s best efforts, it’s impossible to avoid them.

The discovery of microplastics in ovaries is a disturbing but unsurprising development. Further research has found them in human blood, placentas, testicles and breast milk. This indicates that microplastics may affect more than just our ovaries when it comes to fertility, and is a huge step in better understanding how these chemicals hide in our bodies.

The extent of the damage to our health is still being determined, but thanks to a lack of medical research in areas like women’s health, research into microplastics and fertility faces an uphill battle. For starters, the initial research only involved a small sample of 18 women and would require a broader study to garner more accurate results.

So, is it time to panic? While these findings didn’t find a definitive link between microplastics and infertility, other studies have said something different. Existing research found a link between microplastics and some reproductive tissues, including ovarian dysfunction and tissue alterations. However, these studies were conducted on mice, meaning additional human-based studies will be required to draw conclusive evidence.

In terms of what we can do on an individual level, the most obvious step involves reducing our plastic consumption. ‘It’s feeling like the ONLY way they’ll listen,’ reads one social media comment, alluding to the conglomerates responsible for plastic’s mass production.

If nothing else, the study should serve as a wake-up call. Luigi Montano, a researcher at the University of Rome and the lead author of the original study, said: ‘[this is] an important warning signal about the invasiveness of these emerging contaminants in the female reproductive system,’ and the findings are ‘very alarming.’

Microplastics are particularly dangerous because they can contain any number of 16,000 plastic chemicals. This includes highly toxic compounds like Pfas, bisphenol and phthalates, which are linked to cancer, neurotoxicity, hormone disruption and developmental toxicity.

However, many women are sharing their concerns that the study won’t be taken seriously in the medical industry, a space infamously marred by patriarchal and misogynist practices that have led to women suffering misdiagnosis and neglect.

‘[You] only worry about women’s bodies when it threatens fertility but it’s 2026 and there are barely any studies on endometriosis,’ reads one comment beneath an Instagram post on the study.

‘The fact that the only worry is that it may impact fertility and the whole human being is telling,’ says another.

Xiaozhong Yu, a University of New Mexico microplastics researcher, still hopes the study will lead to progress in the field of reproductive health. ‘This is the work in the next phase, we need to quantify,’ he said, adding that his team was currently attempting to answer questions raised by the study through broader epidemiological research.

Plastic has slipped so quietly into the architecture of modern life that its presence inside our bodies feels somewhat inevitable. And if microplastics in the ovaries tell us anything, it is that the boundary between the world we manufacture and the bodies we inhabit is far thinner than we once believed.

Enjoyed this? Click here for more Gen Z focused change stories.

Enjoyed this? Click here for more Gen Z focused change stories.

Senior Remote Writer Brighton, UK

I’m Flo, (She/Her) a Senior Remote Writer at Thred. I recently completed a Masters in Visual Anthropology, and seek to interrogate the ways digital spaces can amplify marginalised voices in the arts and cultural sectors. Follow me on LinkedIn or ping me some feedback via email.

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