New Study: BPA and Autism

A new study, looked at 2 large birth cohorts – in Australia and in the US which included thousands of mother- child  pairs, and found higher  levels of BPA in the mothers of children which were diagnosed with autism.

How could BPA be linked to autism?

The thought is that  BPA can disrupt hormone-controlled male fetal brain development in several ways, including silencing a key enzyme, aromatase.

This enzyme controls other neurohormones and is especially important in fetal male brain development.

In the study, boys with lower levels of this enzyme (aromatase) correlated with mothers with higher urinary BPA levels in late pregnancy.

  These boys:

• were 3.5 x more likely to have autism symptoms by age 2

• were 6 x more likely to have a verified autism diagnosis by age 11 years than those whose mothers had lower levels of BPA during pregnancy.

Past studies on mice, have found that BPA can indeed suppress the aromatase enzyme and is associated with anatomical, neurological, and behavioral changes in male mice that “may be consistent with autism spectrum disorder,”. This large study is the first time this Link was so clearly seen in humans

So do higher levels of pregnancy BPA cause autism?

No- But it suggests there could be a gene-environment interaction going on… in other words, babies with certain gene variations could be more susceptible to BPA effects and have an increased risk of autism.

While more research is needed, reducing your exposure to Bisphenols  and all hormone disrupting chemicals is ALWAYS important  but particularly during pregnancy given how vulnerable a developing fetus is to these chemicals

According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) study , detectable levels of BPA were found in the urine of 93% of people (6 and up) who were tested. BPA  has also been found in breastmilk and newborn babies, suggesting that it might store in the body and could potentially cross the placenta.(3,4)…

Beyond the link to autism, Prenatal & postnatal exposure to BPA has been associated with adverse health effects in children, including:

• Obesity

• Asthma

• Behavioral problems

• Early puberty

The good news? Our bodies start to metabolize, get rid of BPA really quickly within a couple of hours.  This means that it definitely can be reduced, you just need to know where it is being used/ hiding to avoid.

How to reduce BPA exposure?

I will get to that,  but first:

• Focus on reducing all Bisphenol exposure, not just BPA, because all Bisphenols act on the body in very similar ways

• Remember: Bisphenols can affect our health even when exposure is in teeny tiny amounts.

Where do we find Bisphenols?

• hard plastics (water bottles, toys, food containersat home, take out food containers),

• canned food linings ( soups, soda, beer)

• thermal store receipts

• Polyester/ spandex blend

• Plastic food wrap: Use parchment paper, glass storage containers

• Dental sealants dentists use to protect teeth from cavities break down into BPA when in contact with saliva…. exposure disappears a few hours after the sealants are applied, however should def be avoided during pregnancy and not nec used in all children

• Products made with recycled paper ( pizza boxes, toilet paper, paper towels etc) this is because the recycling stream is often contaminated with BPA from thermal store, receipts, and other sources

• Wine: some wine, specifically  boxed wine can have BPA in the plastic bags inside the boxes

• Leather: many leather products require the use of BPA - which is often used in pre-tanning, retanning, fatliquoring, and dyeing.

Did any of these surprise you?

Sources

http://www.justice.org/content/articles/20190206091212.

https://gene.sfari.org/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019307287

https://ceh.org/bpa-socks/

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.7b00701

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.8b03129 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31124657/

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1417731112