Bisphenol A makes girls hyperactive and aggressive

Bisphenol A causes significant behavioral problems in girls

10/26/2011

Girls who have been exposed to the chemical softener bisphenol A during their mothers' pregnancy tend to develop aggressive, hyperactive, anxious, and depressed behavior later in life.

The plasticizer bisphenol A (BPA) contained in many plastic products has numerous negative effects on the human organism and is considered to be a significant health risk, especially for children. Now researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have found that bisphenol A can also cause behavioral problems later in life in unborn girls.

Bisphenol A exerts hormonal action
The chemical bisphenol A unfolds in the human organism a hormonal effect similar to the female hormone estrogen. Due to the intervention in the hormone balance, BPA poses numerous negative health consequences, as countless older studies confirm. For example, the plasticizer BPA is considered to be the cause of ovarian disease (polycystic ovarian syndrome), damaging fertility in both men and women (bisphenol-A causes infertility in women), potentially affecting brain development and potentially carcinogenic. In addition, scientists from Harvard University (USA) have been able to prove in earlier studies that BPA damages the maturation of oocytes and, in addition, negatively influences the course of pregnancy.

Since March 2011, manufacturers of baby bottles are no longer allowed to use bisphenol A for production in Germany because of the health risks, and since June, the trade in BPA-contaminated baby bottles has been banned in Germany. Legislators have not yet been able to achieve more far-reaching regulations, however, and so BPA continues to be used in the manufacture of plastics and synthetic resins and is included, for example, in the coating of most cans, but also in plastic drinking bottles. According to the experts, BPA can be detected in almost every human being in Germany today. Consequently, pregnant women and children hardly have a chance to completely avoid the intake of BPA.

96 percent of the children had BPA in the body
Harvard School of Public Health researchers investigated the effects of BPA on 244 mothers and their children in the Cincinnati area of ​​the US. The results of the study by the researchers led by study leader Joe Braun in the current issue of the journal „Pediatrics“ released. The participating women submitted two urine samples during their pregnancy and gave another sample at the delivery date. All urine samples were tested by the US scientists for the bishpenol A concentration. In addition, the researchers controlled annually the BPA burden of children up to the age of three years. After the children had completed their third year of life, moreover, the mothers were questioned about the behavior of their children. The researchers detected BPA in more than 85 percent of mothers' urine samples and detected the dangerous chemical in over 96 percent of children. Over time, the maternal values ​​between the first and last sample remained approximately constant, whereas the BPA burden among children even declined between the first and the third year of life. However, the children often had significantly higher concentrations than their mothers. Although showed „none of the children have clinically abnormal behavior“ due to the BPA burden, „but some children had more behavioral problems than others“, Joe Brown explained in the current one „Pediatrics“-items.

Behavioral problems due to BPA
Therefore, the US researchers have as part of their current study „the relationship between the bisphenol A levels of mothers and children and the conspicuous behavior“ examined more closely. They found that the daughters of women with high levels of BPA during pregnancy are more prone to hyperactivity, aggressive, anxious or depressed behavior. The affected girls had much less control over their emotions than the daughters of women with low BPA scores, write Braun and colleagues. Comparable effects were not recorded in boys, the US researchers continue. The relationship between behavioral problems and BPA concentration has also been confirmed, taking into account other influencing factors.

Numerous health risks from bisphenol A
The study by Havard scientists also contributes to the detection of the health risks associated with the plasticizer BPA. In addition, the current findings support the findings of two previous studies that have already identified a possible link between bisphenol A in the womb and the later behavior of children. For the first time, however, it has now been shown that a BPA load in the womb brings more serious consequences than contact with BPA later in life, said the US researchers. In general, it should be assumed that the effects of BPA are detrimental to human health, and since the links between bisphenol A and developmental disorders have not been fully explored so far, consumers are best advised to avoid coated cans, plastic-wrapped food, or plastic bottles with the recycling number Seven , However, a general ban - which seems to be desirable in the interests of consumers - is likely to take some time, not least because of the strong influence of the plastic lobby in the EU, or in doubt, until even more serious consequences of the BPA become known , (Fp)

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Picture: Helene Souza