TUESDAY, Sept. 16 (Health.com) — The first large-scale human study of bisphenol A (BPA), a controversial chemical found in hard plastic bottles—including baby bottles—and in the lining of food cans, suggests that long-term exposure may raise the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and liver problems.
The authors of the study, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, are presenting the data this week to a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientific committee, which is examining the overall safety of the chemical.
If you’ve heard about BPA lately, it’s probably because the National Toxicology Program released a draft report in May that said BPA merited “some concern” (the middle of its five-point rating scale) for fetuses, infants, and children. The chemical could have possible neural and behavioral effects, as well as effects in the “prostate gland, mammary gland, and an earlier age for puberty in females.”
BPA is thought to be harmful because it acts as an endocrine disrupter, a compound that has hormone-like effects in the body.
In the new study, David Melzer, MD, PhD, of the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, U.K., and colleagues analyzed data from 1,455 U.S. adults aged 18–74 who participated in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2003-2004 health survey.
When they looked at the amount of BPA in urine samples, they found that people in the highest 25% of exposure were twice as likely to have heart disease or type 2 diabetes as those in the lowest 25% of exposure. Elevated BPA in urine was also associated with abnormal concentrations of liver enzymes.
People with the highest urinary BPA were probably exposed to 50 micrograms of the chemical per day while those in the lowest group had 10 micrograms of exposure per day, the authors estimate.
They say these levels are much lower than those currently considered safe, or about 3,250 micrograms per day for an adult who weighs 143 pounds.
Next: Where does BPA come from?
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