On August 23, 2013 Environmental Health News reported on a new study by Gerona et al. providing evidence for relatively high levels of free bisphenol A (BPA), BPA glucuronide and BPA sulfate found in mid-gestation fetuses. The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science & Technology. The scientist measured levels of BPA and its metabolites, BPA glucuronide and BPA sulfate, in cord blood from 85 second-trimester fetuses derived from elective abortion. For 3 samples the highest ever reported levels of BPA contamination were found. 37 % of the samples showed contamination levels which were associated with detrimental development effects in animal studies. However, whether high levels of BPA interfere with human development remains unknown.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) view, only marginal levels of BPA should be found in blood as it is expected to be metabolized in the liver. Many researches claim therefore that blood BPA levels originate from experimental contamination. In order to prevent contamination with external BPA in the experimental setting the researchers at University of California (UC), San Francisco developed a new method, where all applied tools were tested to be BPA-free. These new findings supports findings published earlier this year that BPA can be absorbed directly sublingually into the blood stream (the FPF reported). Both these results contest currently held views on free BPA blood levels, which should be reassessed concerning their risk to fetal development.

References

Gerona et al. (2013) “BPA, BPA glucuronide, and BPA sulfate in mid-gestation umbilical cord serum in a northern California cohort” Environmental Science & Technology (published online August 13, 2013)

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Environmental Health News

FPF News Report: New study shows impact of oral dosing on free BPA levels (13 June 2013)

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