A news release published on April 23, 2015 by the Johns Hopkins University (JHU), U.S. reports on a new study showing that days-old infants have an innate ability to clear bisphenol A (BPA, CAS 80-05-7) from the body. In the study, published in the peer-reviewed The Journal of Pediatrics, Nachman and colleagues collected urine samples from 44 full-term babies, once between three and six days of age and again between seven and 27 days of age. In humans BPA is largely conjugated into BPA-glucuronide that is devoid of endocrine activity. The researchers analyzed the collected urine samples for free BPA, the chemical as it appears in consumer products, as well as BPA-glucuronide. The researchers found no free BPA in the samples, yet more than 70 % of the samples contained BPA-glucuronide. Measurements of free or conjugated BPA in urine, however, do not inform about levels of free, endocrine active BPA circulating in blood. BPA is no longer allowed to be used in plastic baby bottles but “this work shows infants are still exposed to it”, says study’s first author Rebecca Nachman. How the babies were exposed to BPA remains unknown. No difference was found between BPA-glucuronide levels in formula-fed infants and those who were breastfed. Previous studies have shown that powdered baby formula was BPA-free, whereas BPA has been detected in breast milk. BPA has a short half-life in the body. Therefore, urinary BPA concentration is thought to reflect recent exposure. “It must come from somewhere outside of the diet”, Nachman says.
Read more
JHU (April 23, 2015). “BPA risk to newborns may be smaller than previously believed.”
Reference
Nachman, R.M. et al. (2015). “Serial free bisphenol A and bisphenol A glucuronide concentrations in neonates.” The Journal of Pediatrics (published online April 25, 2015).
