On May 28, 2013 a study linking gender specific anxiety-like behavior in mice after low dose bisphenol A (BPA) exposure was published in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America (PNAS) (Kundakovic et al.). Kundakovic and colleagues exposed pregnant mice to multiple doses of BPA including doses below the dose that is considered safe for humans. Mice prenatally exposed became more aggressive and male mice changed their sniffing and chasing behavior with increased dose. The study showed both U- and J-shaped dose response curves. Observed changes in behavior were sex specific, and occurred in a brain region specific and dose dependent manner.
In response to the study Richard Sharpe, Professor the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom argued that it was not possible to extrapolate this study to humans because the lowest investigated dose of 2 µg/kg/day was still 10 to 20 times higher than normal human exposure. Further he claimed that estrogen levels during pregnancy are far higher in humans and would swamp any low dose effect of BPA.
Read more
Reference
Kundakovic, M. et al. “Sex-specific epigenetic disruption and behavioral changes following low-dose in utero bisphenol A exposure.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America (published online May 28, 2013). doi:10.1073/pnas.1214056110
