ArticleScientific reports2020
Detrimental effects of flame retardant, PBB153, exposure on sperm and future generations.
Article in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of organic and inorganic contaminants and their mixtures on metabolic health and gene expression in developmentally exposed zebrafish.Environmental toxicology and chemistry · 2025Article
- A State of the Science Review of Human Health Effects of the Michigan Polybrominated Biphenyl Contamination after Five Decades.Environmental health perspectives · 2025Review
- Extrapolation of PBBs Environmental Transformation Mechanisms and Toxicity Risks of Byproducts.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Effects of organic and inorganic contaminants and their mixtures on metabolic health and gene expression in developmentally exposed zebrafish.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- The dynamic expression of YAP is essential for the development of male germ cells derived from human embryonic stem cells.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Epigenetic changes in sperm are associated with paternal and child quantitative autistic traits in an autism-enriched cohort.Molecular psychiatry · 2024Article
- Legacies of salient environmental experiences-insights from chemosensation.Chemical senses · 2024Article
- Exposure to air pollution is associated with DNA methylation changes in sperm.Environmental epigenetics · 2024Article
- Imprinting and Reproductive Health: A Toxicological Perspective.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Cessation of chronic delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol use partially reverses impacts on male fertility and the sperm epigenome in rhesus macaques.Fertility and sterility · 2023Article
- Inheritance of paternal lifestyles and exposures through sperm DNA methylation.Nature reviews. Urology · 2023Review
- Elimination of PBB-153; findings from a cohort of Michigan adults.Environmental research · 2023Article
- Associations of brominated flame retardants exposure with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A US population-based cross-sectional analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Birth outcomes associated with paternal polybrominated and polychlorinated biphenyl exposure.Environmental research · 2022Article
- Suppression of trinucleotide repeat expansion in spermatogenic cells in Huntington's disease.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2022Article
- Environmental factors in declining human fertility.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2022Review
- Implications of testicular ACE2 and the renin-angiotensin system for SARS-CoV-2 on testis function.Nature reviews. Urology · 2022Review
- Blastocyst development after fertilization with in vitro spermatids derived from nonhuman primate embryonic stem cells.F&S science · 2021Article
- Epigenetic transgenerational inheritance, gametogenesis and germline development†.Biology of reproduction · 2021Review
- Exposures during the prepuberty period and future offspring's health: evidence from human cohort studies†.Biology of reproduction · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
In 1973, the Velsicol Chemical Company, which manufactured FireMaster, a brominated flame retardant, and NutriMaster, a nutritional supplement, mistakenly shipped hundreds of pounds of FireMaster to grain mills around Michigan where it was incorporated into animal feed and then into the food chain across the state. An estimated 6.5 million Michigan residents consumed polybrominated biphenyl (PBB)-laced animal products leading to one of the largest agricultural accidents in U.S. history. To date, there have been no studies investigating the effects of PBB on epigenetic regulation in sperm, which could explain some of the endocrine-related health effects observed among children of PBB-exposed parents. Fusing epidemiological approaches with a novel in vitro model of human spermatogenesis, we demonstrate that exposure to PBB153, the primary component of FireMaster, alters the epigenome in human spermatogenic cells. Using our novel stem cell-based spermatogenesis model, we show that PBB153 exposure decreases DNA methylation at regulatory elements controlling imprinted genes. Furthermore, PBB153 affects DNA methylation by reducing de novo DNA methyltransferase activity at increasing PBB153 concentrations as well as reducing maintenance DNA methyltransferase activity at the lowest tested PBB153 concentration. Additionally, PBB153 exposure alters the expression of genes critical to proper human development. Taken together, these results suggest that PBB153 exposure alters the epigenome by disrupting methyltransferase activity leading to defects in imprint establishment causing altered gene expression, which could contribute to health concerns in the children of men exposed to PBB153. While this chemical is toxic to those directly exposed, the results from this study indicate that the epigenetic repercussions may be detrimental to future generations. Above all, this model may be expanded to model a multitude of environmental exposures to elucidate the effect of various chemicals on germline epigenetics and how paternal exposure may impact the health of future generations.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.