Prenatal BPA Exposure Effect on Emotional Health in Girls
BOSTON—Exposure to the industrial chemical bisphenol A (BPA) before birth may lead to behavior and emotional problems in preschoolers, particularly girls, according to a new study published in the journalPediatrics. The findings add more fire to the already hot debate about healthy hazards associated with BPA exposure.
Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health examined data from 244 mothers and their young children in the Cincinnati area who were taking part in the Health Outcomes and Measures of the Environment Study. They characterized gestational and childhood BPA exposures by using the mean BPA concentrations in maternal (16 and 26 weeks of gestation and birth) and child (1, 2, and 3 years of age) urine samples, respectively. Behavior and executive function were measured by using the Behavior Assessment System for Children 2 (BASC-2) and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool (BRIEF-P).
They found 85% of the mothers and 96% of the children had detectable levels of BPA in their urine. There was little difference between the mothers’ in-pregnancy and at-birth levels of BPA. The BPA levels in the children’s urine samples decreased from age 1 to age 3, but they were higher and varied more than their mothers’ levels.
After adjusting for other possible influencers, BPA levels in pregnancy were linked to more hyperactive, aggressive, anxious, and depressed behavior and poorer emotional control and inhibition in the girls, but not the boys.
The researchers concluded gestational BPA exposure affected behavioral and emotional regulation domains at 3 years of age, especially among girls. Clinicians may advise concerned patients to reduce their exposure to certain consumer products, but the benefits of such reductions are unclear.
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