A study published online in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) and covered by the FPF (see article) found that prenatal bisphenol A (BPA) exposure was inversely related to the weight of girls at the age of nine, but positively related to the weight of boys at the same age in the Center for the Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) cohort.
In the current issue of EHP, Kellyn Betts, journalist for the EHP and the Environmental Science and Technology journal commented on the seemingly contradictory findings of this study (Betts 2013). She states that one of the issues complicating interpretation of the results is the fact that BPA’s in vivo effect of increasing body weight is often only apparent after the animals reach sexual maturity, explaining why the pre-pubertal girls in this study might not have shown the expected increases in body weight. She further points to the difficulty of basing associations between body mass index (BMI) and BPA on urinary spot samples, when BPA levels in the body vary widely across a day.
The CHAMACOS cohort will be followed up through puberty, which may further elucidate the effect of BPA on body weight during and after sexual maturation.
Reference
Betts, K. (2013). “Unclear Relationship: Prenatal but Not Concurrent Bisphenol A Exposure Linked to Lower Weight and Less Fat.” Environ Health Perspect 121:A135.
