BPA Linked to Obesity & Linked to Behavior Problems in Baby Girls

http://planetsave.com/2012/01/26/bpa-linked-to-obesity-linked-to-behavior-proble\
ms-in-baby-girls/

BPA has come into the public consciousness now. If you haven’t yet heard about
it, though, take a scroll through our BPA tag or the BPA tag of sister site Eat
Drink Better. Adding on to all we already know about the risks of BPA (which is
still in our plastic and some other materials, such as food cans and receipts),
we’ve got more bad news about BPA.
BPA Linked to Behavior Problems in Baby Girls

“Baby girls who are exposed while in the womb to a chemical found commonly in
plastics may develop behavior problems as children, a new study suggests,”
Cory Hatch of MSNBC writes.

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention measured BPA levels in the urine of 244 mothers
at various times during pregnancy, and in their children at various times after
birth. When the children reached age 3, their mothers completed two surveys
designed to detect behavior and emotional problems such as attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder and depression.

Mothers with higher BPA levels in their urine during pregnancy tended to
have 3-year-old girls with more anxious and depressed behavior, and poorer
emotional control and inhibition, researchers found.

A similar effect was not seen in boys whose mothers showed high levels of
BPA. And BPA exposure after a child was born had no affect on behavioral and
emotional control, according to the study.

“Women with higher BPA levels during pregnancy— their children had
higher scores in these surveys,” said study co-author Joe Braun, a research
fellow at Harvard School of Public Health. “Typically, girls had more behavior
problems.”

For more on this one, check out the MSNBC link above.
BPA Linked to Obesity

More recent news one BPA, from Environmental Health News: “High urinary levels
of bisphenol A in older adults are associated with increased weight and waist
size, both indicators of obesity that can lead to serious illness and
disease,” according to a new study, “Urinary Bisphenol A (BPA) concentration
associates with obesity and insulin resistance,” published in The Journal of
Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

“Researchers in China have found that adults over the age of 40 with higher
levels of bisphenol A (BPA) in their urine tend to be obese, have more abdominal
fat and be insulin resistant. These metabolic disorders can lead to further and
more harmful health problems, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart
disease.”

This is not the first time the link has been made. “Prior epidemiological
studies, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and the
journal PLoS One, have revealed links between BPA and metabolic disorders,
consistent with this new research.”

More from Environmental Health News:

Previous lab-based studies correlate BPA to an increase in fat cells and
increases in insulin hormone levels. These, in turn, can lead to
hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance and – perhaps – obesity. Exposures
to this chemical in rodents during prenatal periods also alter the development
of brain regions associated with food intake and metabolism. Hence the animal
studies add to the plausibility of these new results from China.

In the study, BPA levels were measured in 3,390 adults older than 40 from
the Songnan Community, Shanghai, China. Sociodemographic, medical and lifestyle
backgrounds were collected from each person. Glucose and insulin levels were
also measured.

Body mass indexes (BMI, the weight divided by height) were calculated for
each person. “Overweight” was considered as a BMI from 24 to 28 while a BMI
over 28 was considered “obese.” Abdominal obesity was defined as a waist
circumference more than 35 inches in men and 33.5 inches in women.

BPA was measured in a morning urine sample. The BPA levels were classified
into groups by increasing concentration levels (from low to high), and the
groups were compared. These levels where well within those typically seen in the
United States.

The highest BPA levels were associated with both an obese BMI and waist
circumference and higher concentrations of insulin in the blood. Overall, the
younger men (average age of 59) in the study tended to have the highest levels
of this chemical in their urine.

In participants with a BMI under 24, the prevalence of insulin resistance
was increased by 94 percent in groups with the highest levels of this
contaminant – an increase more prominent than in the obese BMI groups.

This study is limited by the fact that the relationship is based on a single
sampling point of BPA and causality cannot be determined by the study’s design
– the researchers used a cross-sectional approach.

This study suggests that BPA levels in adults represent a health risk
because they are related to obesity and related health problems.

In other words, BPA causes problems. Watch out for it.

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