Abstract
BackgroundBisphenol A (BPA) is commonly used in the manufacture of plastics and epoxy resins. In North America, over 90% of the population has detectable levels of urinary BPA. Human epidemiological studies have reported adverse behavioral outcomes with BPA exposure in children, however, corresponding effects on children’s brain structure have not yet been investigated. The current study examined the association between prenatal maternal and childhood BPA exposure and white matter microstructure in children aged 2 to 5 years, and investigated whether brain structure mediated the association between BPA exposure and child behavior.MethodsParticipants were 98 mother-child pairs who were recruited between January 2009 and December 2012. Total BPA concentrations in spot urine samples obtained from mothers in the second trimester of pregnancy and from children at 3–4 years of age were analyzed. Children participated in a diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan at age 2–5 years (3.7 ± 0.8 years). Associations between prenatal maternal and childhood BPA and children’s fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity of 10 isolated white matter tracts were investigated, controlling for urinary creatinine, child sex, and age at the time of MRI. Post-hoc analyses examined if alterations in white matter mediated the relationship of BPA and children’s scores on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).ResultsPrenatal maternal urinary BPA was significantly associated with child mean diffusivity in the splenium and right inferior longitudinal fasciculus. Splenium diffusivity mediated the relationship between maternal prenatal BPA levels and children’s internalizing behavior (indirect effect: β = 0.213, CI [0.0167, 0.564]). No significant associations were found between childhood BPA and white matter microstructure.ConclusionsThis study provides preliminary evidence for the neural correlates of BPA exposure in humans. Our findings suggest that prenatal maternal exposure to BPA may lead to alterations in white matter microstructure in preschool aged children, and that such alterations mediate the relationship between early life exposure to BPA and internalizing problems.
Highlights
Bisphenol A (BPA) is commonly used in the manufacture of plastics and epoxy resins
No significant associations were observed between childhood urinary BPA concentrations and fractional anisotropy (FA) or mean diffusivity (MD) for any of the isolated white matter tracts (p > 0.05). In this first human study of BPA exposure and brain structure, higher prenatal maternal BPA levels were related to higher diffusivity in the splenium and right inferior-longitudinal fasciculus of young children. These relationships suggest that children who were prenatally exposed to higher doses of BPA during the second trimester of pregnancy may have less developed white matter in inferior and posterior brain regions compared to children exposed to lower doses of BPA
Here, in the first human study of brain structure and early-life BPA exposure, higher maternal BPA concentrations during the second trimester of pregnancy were associated with microstructural alterations in inferior and posterior white matter tracts of young children
Summary
Bisphenol A (BPA) is commonly used in the manufacture of plastics and epoxy resins. In North America, over 90% of the population has detectable levels of urinary BPA. Human epidemiological studies have reported adverse behavioral outcomes with BPA exposure in children, corresponding effects on children’s brain structure have not yet been investigated. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that increasing global understanding of the effects of chemical exposure during pregnancy and childhood be an international research priority [8]. BPA is a synthetic chemical used in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins [2]. Human exposure to BPA is globally ubiquitous [9], with over 90% of North Americans having detectable urinary BPA [3, 10]. Biomonitoring studies have demonstrated continued exposure postnatally, with BPA being detected within urine samples of children [7, 22]. There is ample evidence supporting that fetuses, newborn infants, and children are exposed to BPA throughout development
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