EXETER, England—U.S. adults with high urinary concentrations of bisphenol A (BPA) are more likely to develop heart disease and diabetes, according to a study published in PLoS ONE (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008673).
BPA is a chemical widely used in food and drinks packaging and has been associated with heart disease, diabetes and liver enzymes in previous studies.
In this study, English researchers used a cross-sectional analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003/04 and NHANES 2005/06. Subjects (n = 1,455 (2003/04) and n = 1,493 (2005/06)) were adults aged 18 to 74 years old and representative of the general adult population of the United States. Regression models were adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, income, smoking, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and urinary creatinine concentration.
Urinary BPA concentrations in 2005/06 (geometric mean 1.79 ng/ml, 95 percent CI: 1.64 to 1.96) were lower than in 2003/04 (2.49 ng/ml, CI: 2.20 to 2.83, difference P-value = 0.00002). Higher BPA concentrations were associated with reported coronary heart disease in 2005/06 (OR per z-score increase in BPA = 1.33, 95 percent CI: 1.01 to 1.75, P = 0.043) and in a combination of the two groups (OR = 1.42, CI: 1.17 to 1.72, P = 0.001). Associations with diabetes did not reach significance in 2005/06, but pooled estimates remained significant (OR = 1.24, CI: 1.10 to 1.40, P = 0.001).
In June 2009, a study presented at the Endocrine Society’s 91st Annual Meeting suggests that people are being exposed to BPA at levels much higher than the recommended safe daily dose. Studies like these have caused some governments, such as in Connecticut and Suffolk County, N.Y., to ban food containers that contain BPA.
