bisphenol A

bisphenol A (BPA), a colourless crystalline solid belonging to the family of organic compounds; its molecular formula is C₁₅H₁₆O₂. BPA is best known for its use in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, particularly those found in water bottles, baby bottles, and other beverage and food containers. It is also widely known for its tendency to leach from those products, which has made it a subject of public health and environmental concern.

In the early 21st century, global BPA production amounted to more than 6 billion pounds (2.7 billion kilograms) annually, roughly one-third of which was made in the United States. Human exposure in that country particularly was deemed to be widespread; a study published in 2008 estimated that more than 90 percent of Americans aged six and older had detectable levels of BPA in their urine.

In general, BPA levels in humans have measured well below 50 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day, which is the maximum acceptable (or “reference”) dose set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Despite its presence in human populations and its association with reproductive and developmental toxicity in animals, most countries have not imposed regulations on the manufacture, import, or sale of BPA products. That has been due largely to conflicting scientific evidence for a direct association between low-level exposure and adverse health effects in humans. Some countries and regions, including Canada, Europe, Sweden, and the United States, on the other hand, have formally banned BPA from infant and children’s products, including, variously, cans of infant formula, baby bottles, and sippy cups.

Synthesis and use of bisphenol A

BPA was first synthesized in 1891, by Russian chemist Aleksandr P. Dianin, who combined phenol with acetone in the presence of an acid catalyst to produce the chemical. In the 1950s scientists discovered that the reaction of BPA with phosgene (carbonyl chloride) produced a clear hard resin known as polycarbonate, which became widely used in the manufacture of plastics.

BPA polycarbonate plastics are exceptionally strong and stable. They can endure exposure to high temperatures, enabling them to withstand heating in microwave ovens, and they can sustain high-impact collisions, making them invaluable as components of safety equipment, including safety glasses, face guards, motorcycle helmets, and bullet-resistant windows. As a component of epoxy resins in protective coatings, such as those lining the inner surfaces of cans, BPA helps to extend the shelf life of food and beverage products. The resiliency of BPA plastics has led to their use in medical devices such as heart-lung machines, incubators, artificial kidneys (hemodialyzers), and dental sealants and fillers, and their light weight and optical clarity has made them especially useful for eyeglasses. The chemical is also found in a variety of other products, including compact discs and paper receipts.

Biological effects of bisphenol A

Although in the latter part of the 20th century BPA found its widest use in plastics, in the 1930s scientists had developed it as a synthetic estrogen and noted the possibility of carcinogenic (cancer-causing) properties. The significance of its estrogenic behaviour resurfaced in the early 1990s when a team led by American endocrinologist David Feldman unexpectedly discovered BPA in growth medium in polycarbonate flasks used to culture yeast cells. The scientists proceeded to isolate BPA from samples of water that had been autoclaved (sterilized at very high temperature and pressure) in the flasks, confirming that the chemical they had detected earlier in the yeast cultures had in fact come from the plastic used to make the flasks. They also found that BPA produced estrogenic effects in cells at levels 5 to 10 times lower than those used for safety assessments by companies that manufactured polycarbonate plastics. BPA subsequently was found to leach from not only plastics but also resins in tin cans. Various conditions were found to facilitate the leaching process, including photochemical breakdown, exposure to high temperatures, the presence of ethanol, and the age of the plastic or resin. Other research suggested that free unpolymerized BPA may always be present in plastics and resins.

From the mid-1990s, numerous studies determined that both high-level and low-level exposure to BPA can adversely affect reproduction and development in animals by interfering with their endocrine systems. (The endocrine system produces and secretes hormones that regulate a wide range of processes, from reproduction and development to energy balance and stress responses.) Examples of findings from the vast body of scientific literature on the subject include reduced testicular sperm count in male mice, teratogenic effects in Xenopus laevis frogs, and damage to sperm and eggs in fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) and to sperm production in male swordtails (Xiphophorus helleri). BPA has also been discovered to exert very subtle effects on sexual behaviour in animals. For instance, healthy female deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) were found to avoid males that had been exposed to BPA through maternal diet; furthermore, the males, outwardly normal in appearance, demonstrated impairments in navigational and exploratory behaviours, which support their ability to find female mates.

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BPA has been found to cross the placental barrier in mammals such as rats and mice, and it has been detected in human maternal and fetal serum and in human placental tissue. Thus, BPA can find its way into tissues and fluids in the human womb. Whether and how the chemical might adversely affect human fetal development, however, is unclear. Likewise, whether BPA adversely affects the function of the human endocrine system is a matter of debate. Much speculation centres around whether BPA is a true endocrine disruptor chemical (EDC) in humans (broadly defined, an EDC is an exogenous substance, one that comes from outside the body, that interferes with natural hormones in the body). Other EDCs, such as DDT and diethylstilbestrol, have been associated with congenital (birth) defects, reduced fertility, and diseases such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, and cancer in humans. BPA as well as bisphenol S and bisphenol F, which are used as alternatives to BPA, are associated with obesity, particularly in children.

Bisphenol A in the environment

In 2010 the U.S. EPA reported that more than 1,000,000 pounds (454,000 kilograms) of BPA were released into environmental reservoirs annually, including soil, rivers, lakes, and oceans. The primary routes for environmental contamination include leaching from landfills and release from municipal water supplies, such as those associated with wastewater-treatment plants and paper mills. In the world’s oceans a major source of BPA is plastic pollution. However, although seawater expedites the breakdown of BPA plastics, the tendency for leached BPA to accumulate in the tissues of marine species is quite low. On the other hand, studies of terrestrial and freshwater species have indicated that prolonged exposure to even low concentrations of the chemical can cause abnormalities. In plants, for instance, BPA exposure causes an increase in micronuclei in root tip cells, an indication of DNA damage. In certain species of reptiles whose sex determination normally is influenced by temperature, BPA exposure causes sex ratios to become biased toward females.