According to an article published on the news provider Science Daily on June 23, 2014, a new study found bisphenol S (BPS) may have similar toxic effects to bisphenol A (BPA). The new research was presented at the joint meeting of the International Society of Endocrinology and the Endocrine Society (ICE/ENDO) in Chicago, U.S. on June 21-24, 2014. In their study the researchers from the University of Cincinnati, U.S perfused the hearts of 50 test animals (rats) with an environmentally relevant dose of 1nmol BPS, after incurring a state of stress on the animal’s hearts. Electrocardiogram showed that female animals exposed to BPS had additional heartbeats, as well as racing heartbeats known as ventricular tachycardia. The same effects were not observed in male rats. Investigating the effects further, the researchers found BPS to cause abnormal calcium cycling in hearts, and they were able to abolish the abnormalities by chemically blocking the estrogen beta (ERβ) receptor. The observed effects of BPS on the heart are similar to those of BPA. Lead author Hong-Sheng Wang concludes that the “findings call into question the safety of BPA-free products containing BPS”. BPS has replaced the contested BPA in a variety of applications in food contact materials (see FPF article on “Bisphenol S”).
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Endocrine Society (June 23, 2014). “Common BPA substitute, BPS, disrupts heart rhythms in females.” Science Daily.
