THE GREAT ENDOCRINE DISRUPTOR: HOW BISPHENOL A INFLUENCES SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT AND BEHAVIOR 1

The Great Endocrine Disruptor: How Bisphenol A Influences Sexual Development and Behavior

Melissa-Marie Marks

The Florida School of Traditional Midwifery

THE GREAT ENDOCRINE DISRUPTOR: HOW BISPHENOL A INFLUENCES SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT AND BEHAVIOR 2

The Great Endocrine Disruptor:

How Bisphenol A Influences Sexual Development and Behavior

Browsing many grocery and department stores today, one will find quite a few plastic

products labeled “Bisphenol-A Free” or “BPA Free”. On television and commercials, there are

advertisements exclaiming the wonders of a new plastic toy that is safe for children because it

does not contain harmful BPA. But despite the “BPA Free” campaign, most consumers still

have no idea what Bisphenol-A actually is, where it is found, and what it does to the

environment and the human body. Due to numerous government-funded studies declaring the

potential danger of BPA, it has been banned from baby products in Canada, Japan, Denmark, and

France, but only a handful of states in the US have followed suit. In order for a world-wide ban

on the estrogen-mimic BPA to be enacted, it is more important now than ever to inform the

public of the harmful effects of Bisphenol-A.

What is Bisphenol-A?

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is an estrogenic endocrine-disrupting monomer that, for many years

now, has been one of the highest-volume chemicals in worldwide production; it has an annual

production capacity in excess of six-billion pounds (vom Saal et al 2006). According to the

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ National Toxicology Program, Bisphenol-

A (BPA) is “a high production volume chemical used primarily in the production of

polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins.” BPA is found in the linings of food cans, dental

sealants, polyvinyl chloride plastic products (such as shower curtain liners and vinyl pool toys),

polycarbonate plastic products (such as plastic children’s toys, baby formula bottles, and sports

bottles) (vom Saal et al 2006), and also in thermal printer paper taking the form of cash register
THE GREAT ENDOCRINE DISRUPTOR: HOW BISPHENOL A INFLUENCES SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT AND BEHAVIOR 3

receipts (Biedermann 2010). Unless a plastic product is specifically labeled “BPA Free” or

“Bisphenol-A Free”, it most likely contains BPA.

How are humans exposed to BPA?

The ester bonds in BPA-based polymers are subject to hydrolysis and, therefore, BPA

leaches into food and drinks from their storage containers. Heat and/or acids speed up the

leaching process, and “repeated washing of polycarbonate products have all been shown to result

in an increase in the rate of leaching of BPA” (vom Saal et al 2005). Drinking and bathing water

are another potential source of human exposure, and studies conducted in Japan and the US have

shown that BPA leaches from landfills into the surrounding ecosystem (vom Saal et al 2005).

Unborn fetuses are exposed to BPA through their mothers’ contact with the chemical.

Measurable amounts of BPA have been found in the human umbilical cord (Kubo et al 2003),

amniotic fluid, maternal and fetal plasma, and placental tissue at birth. BPA has also been found

in the breastmilk of lactating mothers (Rubin et al 2006).

Is there a “safe” dose of BPA that humans might be exposed to?

The safe or reference dose of BPA for human exposure is 50 µg/kg/day. However, over

30 publications utilizing vertebrate and invertebrate animal studies state that “significant effects

occurred below the predicted ‘safe’ or reference dose…” How do these animal studies pertain to

humans? Recent reports state that the median BPA level in human blood (including fetal blood)

and tissues is actually higher than the level that causes harmful effects in mice. Indeed, “…rate

of growth and sexual maturation, hormone levels in blood, reproductive organ function, fertility,

immune function, enzyme activity, brain structure, brain chemistry, and behavior are all affected

by exposure to low doses of BPA.” (vom Saal & Hughes 2005).

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How does BPA affect the human body?

One study conducted in the United States on 394 humans found that BPA was present in

the urine of 95% of the population. These findings were similar to those observed in other

human populations (Calafat et al 2005). A similar study was later conducted on 1,469 humans to

see how quickly BPA was cleared from the body, under the hypothesis that BPA levels in the

urine of fasting humans should decrease with increased fasting time. The findings of these

studies showed that BPA levels did not decrease with increased fasting time, suggesting that

either there was a substantial nonfood exposure to BPA, it accumulated in body fat, or both

(Stahlhut et al 2009).

The Reproductive System

According to Maffini et al (2006), “Perinatal exposure to environmentally relevant BPA

doses results in morphological and functional alterations of the male and female genital tract and

mammary glands that may predispose the tissue to earlier onset of disease, reduced fertility, and

mammary and prostate cancer.”

In one study conducted in 1999, female mice were exposed prenatally to low doses of

BPA and subsequently displayed first estrus (sexual maturity) at a significantly earlier age than

mice that were not exposed. Female mice exposed to environmentally relevant doses of BPA

also displayed morphological and functional alterations in their reproductive tracts including

decreased weight of the vagina and endometrial lamina propria and increased proliferation of

epithelial cells in the endometrial glands. (Maffini et al 2006).

In two separate studies involving female mice, Bisphenol-A was found to cause meiotic

aneuploidy, or an abnormal amount of chromosomes in oocytes (germ cells that turn into eggs or
THE GREAT ENDOCRINE DISRUPTOR: HOW BISPHENOL A INFLUENCES SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT AND BEHAVIOR 5

ovums when fertilized) (Hunt et al 2003 and Susiarjo et al 2007). About 40-70% of spontaneous

abortions in humans are linked to aneuploidy, and according to a study involving 77 human

women, 45 of whom had a history of three or more consecutive first-trimester miscarriages and

32 of whom had no history of live birth or infertility, Bisphenol-A levels were significantly

higher in the group of women experiencing consecutive miscarriages (Sugiura-Ogasawara et al

2005).

When female mice pregnant with male fetuses were exposed to levels of BPA at doses

below the range of exposure by pregnant human women, their male offspring showed increased

prostate size and malformations of the urethra, specifically constriction where it enters the

bladder (Timms et al 2005).

Male germ cells are also at risk of harmful effects due to BPA exposure. At an infertility

clinic in Boston, urine and semen samples were collected from 190 human males. 89% of these

men had measurable amounts of BPA in their urine, and those with the highest levels were more

likely to produce sperm with decreased motility and morphology and increased sperm DNA

damage (Meeker et al 2010).

Altered Sexual Behavior

According to a study conducted by Rubin et al (2006), exposure of pregnant female mice

to low levels of BPA from day 8 of pregnancy through day 16 of lactation resulted in permanent

effects on the brains of the offspring, including demasculinization of males and defeminization

of females. Sex differences (of behavior) observed in control groups of mice were not observed

in the offspring of the BPA-exposed mothers. The study concluded “These data indicate that
THE GREAT ENDOCRINE DISRUPTOR: HOW BISPHENOL A INFLUENCES SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT AND BEHAVIOR 6

BPA may be capable of altering important events during critical periods of brain development.”

(Rubin et al 2006).

Reducing Exposure to Bisphenol A

Though there have been over 100 government-funded studies done indicating the harmful

effects of BPA, no industry-funded studies have shown statistically significant harm to humans

from exposure to BPA. BPA is used extensively worldwide in the production of thousands of

different products that are in great demand by consumers. Until a substitute of equal or cheaper

value is put on the market, it can be hypothesized that there will never be any industry-funded

studies showing the great dangers of BPA, and therefore BPA will continue to be in production.

For now, consumers and parents can take small steps towards reducing their exposure to

Bisphenol-A in the following ways:

• Use glass, ceramic, or stainless steel drinking bottles, storage containers, dishes, and

cutlery instead of plastic. If you must use plastic, be sure to avoid #7 plastics, and avoid

putting any plastic dishes or containers in the microwave or dishwasher.

• Reduce or eliminate the consumption of canned foods or choose canned foods packaged

in cans that do not contain BPA (such as the brand “Eden Organics”).

• Reduce exposure to cash register receipts and when you must handle them, wash hands

thoroughly immediately after contact.

• Buy wooden or cloth toys for your children, or make sure that the plastic toys you buy do

not contain BPA.

• Breastfeed. All liquid infant formula and some powdered infant formula cans are lined

with resin containing BPA.

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• Before getting dental sealants or fillings, make sure your dentist does not use products

which have BPA as an ingredient.

• Become an activist. Write to your local, state, and federal government officials and tell

them about your concern over the harmful effects of BPA. Ask them to work toward

legislation to ban BPA from all products that can leach the chemical into food and drinks.

Write to your favorite canned good and/or storage container companies and ask them to

make BPA-Free alternatives. Production is based on supply and demand…if enough

people stop demanding harmful products, companies will stop supplying them.
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References

Biedermann, S., et al. (2010). Transfer of Bisphenol A from thermal printer paper to the skin.

Analytical Bioanalytical Chemistry, Springer Online, DOI 10.1007/s00216-010-3936-9.

Calafat, A.M., et al. (2005). Urinary concentrations of Bisphenol-A and 4-Nonylphenol in a

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Hunt, P.A., et al. (2003). Bisphenol A exposure causes meiotic aneuploidy in the female mouse.

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Kubo, K., et al. (2003). Low dose effects of bisphenol A on sexual differentiation of the brain

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Maffini, M.V., et al. (2006). Endocrine disruptors and reproductive health: The case of

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Meeker, J.D., et al. (2010). Semen quality and sperm DNA damage in relation to urinary

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THE GREAT ENDOCRINE DISRUPTOR: HOW BISPHENOL A INFLUENCES SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT AND BEHAVIOR 9

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