Micro- and nanoplastics: Emerging environmental threats to the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease

Environmental exposure to micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) can have significant impacts on the development of chronic health conditions in children and adults. MNPs are byproducts generated from the ubiquitous and daily use of plastics. A growing body of literature points to MNPs' affecting human metabolic and reproductive health, yet research into their potential impacts is still in its infancy. Due to recent evidence demonstrating accumulation of MNPs within human metabolic and reproductive tissues, their potential for inducing physiological and epigenetic dysregulations is postulated. This is especially critical for future generations as epigenetic disturbances within individuals can be inherited. Currently, the mechanisms for how MNPs exert their effects are still under investigation. In this scenario, the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) offers insight on the influence of environmental exposures in the periconceptual, fetal, and early phases of life towards the development of noncommunicable diseases later in life. DOHaD investigates these interactions through an epigenetic lens as epigenetics bridges environmental exposures and changes in gene expression outside of the DNA sequence itself. In this review, we provide an overview on current research that describes MNPs' contribution towards the development of metabolic and reproductive dysfunction as well as their potential to impact future generations through the DOHaD paradigm possibly mediated by epigenetic modifications.