Plastic chemical may affect girls
Source: Agencies |
October 25, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
EXPOSURE before birth to a chemical used in plastics could affect girls' behavior at the age of three, according to the latest study on its potential health effects.
Preschool-age girls whose mothers had relatively high urine levels of bisphenol A during pregnancy scored worse than other young girls but still within a normal range on behavior measures that include anxiety and hyperactivity.
The results are not conclusive and experts not involved in the study said factors other than BPA might explain the results. The researchers acknowledge that "considerable debate" remains about whether BPA is harmful, but say their findings should prompt additional research.
The researchers measured BPA in the urine of 244 US mothers during pregnancy and at childbirth. The women evaluated their children at three years old using standard behavior questionnaires.
Nearly all women had measurable BPA levels, like most Americans. But increasingly high urine levels during pregnancy were linked with increasingly worse behavior in their daughters. Boys' behavior did not seem to be affected.
The researchers said if BPA can cause behavior changes it could pose academic and social problems for girls already at risk of those difficulties.
"These subtle shifts can actually have very dramatic implications at the population level," said Joe Braun, the lead author and a research fellow at Harvard's School of Public Health.
For every 10-fold increase in mothers' BPA levels, girls scored at least six points worse on the questionnaires.
Linda Birnbaum, director of the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, said the study contributes important new evidence to "a growing database which suggests that BPA exposure can be associated with effects on human health."
The US Food and Drug Administration has said low-level BPA exposure appears to be safe, but it has also said it has some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain and behavior in fetuses, infants and small children.
The FDA is continuing to study BPA exposure and supports efforts to minimize use in food containers.
Preschool-age girls whose mothers had relatively high urine levels of bisphenol A during pregnancy scored worse than other young girls but still within a normal range on behavior measures that include anxiety and hyperactivity.
The results are not conclusive and experts not involved in the study said factors other than BPA might explain the results. The researchers acknowledge that "considerable debate" remains about whether BPA is harmful, but say their findings should prompt additional research.
The researchers measured BPA in the urine of 244 US mothers during pregnancy and at childbirth. The women evaluated their children at three years old using standard behavior questionnaires.
Nearly all women had measurable BPA levels, like most Americans. But increasingly high urine levels during pregnancy were linked with increasingly worse behavior in their daughters. Boys' behavior did not seem to be affected.
The researchers said if BPA can cause behavior changes it could pose academic and social problems for girls already at risk of those difficulties.
"These subtle shifts can actually have very dramatic implications at the population level," said Joe Braun, the lead author and a research fellow at Harvard's School of Public Health.
For every 10-fold increase in mothers' BPA levels, girls scored at least six points worse on the questionnaires.
Linda Birnbaum, director of the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, said the study contributes important new evidence to "a growing database which suggests that BPA exposure can be associated with effects on human health."
The US Food and Drug Administration has said low-level BPA exposure appears to be safe, but it has also said it has some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain and behavior in fetuses, infants and small children.
The FDA is continuing to study BPA exposure and supports efforts to minimize use in food containers.
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