Babies, Bottles, and Bisphenol A: The Story of a Scientist-Mother

Quitmeyer, Aimee; Roberts, Rebecca

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050200

Cited by 13 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…BPA is released into the environment through sewage-treatment effluent, via hydrolysis from plastics, and the natural degradation of polycarbonate plastics exposed to heat, acidic, or alkaline conditions. BPA received heightened attention in the past decade because of its ubiquitous presence and its endocrine disruption effects (Quitmeyer and Roberts 2007).…”

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confidence: 99%

Maternal Transfer of Bisphenol A During Nursing Causes Sperm Impairment in Male Offspring

Kalb

Cardoso

et al. 2015

Arch Environ Contam Toxicol

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The health effects of environmental chemicals on animals and humans are of growing concern. Human epidemiological and animal study data indicate that reproductive disorders and diseases begin early during prenatal and postnatal development. An increase of human male reproductive disturbance in the past several decades was associated to chemicals called endocrine disruptors (ED). Bisphenol A (BPA) is a ubiquitous organic environmental contaminant with ED activity. This study verified the effect of BPA exposure via breast milk during the lactation (early postnatal) period in male mice. Dams were exposed to oral BPA (300, 900, and 3000 µg/kg/BW/day) during the breastfeeding period (21 days). BPA at all concentrations significantly impaired sperm parameters in adult mice (8 months old), but mitochondrial functionality was more affected at BPA 3000. The acrosome membrane parameter was affected by BPA concentrations from 900 to 3000, and DNA integrity showed pronounced impairment at BPA 900 and 3000. BPA 3000 treatment also induced testicular degeneration and complete aplasia in some seminiferous tubules. Testicular oxidative damage was observed, and the total antioxidant capacity was impaired in BPA 900 and 3000 treatment groups. Taken together, the present study demonstrated long-term adverse effects of BPA in male mice, including reduced sperm quality, antioxidant capacity, and changes in testicular tissue. Our results clearly demonstrate the danger of BPA transferred via lactation on sperm quality registered even after a long time-elapsed from exposure to this harmful chemical.

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confidence: 99%

Maternal Transfer of Bisphenol A During Nursing Causes Sperm Impairment in Male Offspring

Kalb

Cardoso

et al. 2015

Arch Environ Contam Toxicol

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“…Furthermore, BPA is present in water sources such as rivers and streams and also drinking water, possibly due to leaching from plastic items in landfills. 2 Apart from these, BPA is a uniform composition of thermal paper that is used for airline tickets, receipts from automatic teller machines and cash registers, and many other types of receipts in our day-to-day activities. The direct transfer of this chemical from hand to mouth (mouthing behavior) has been proposed to be an important variable for estimating total chemical exposure in humans, particularly in young children.…”

Section: Sanjeevmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3 In keeping with its widespread applications in the manufacture of numerous products, BPA ranks among the highest-volume chemicals manufactured worldwide, with an annual production in 2003 of about 13 billion kg. 2 It appears clear that BPA is an indispensable chemical in all our daily activities. Hence, it is practically not possible to exclude only plastic utensils as sources of BPA to measure the urinary and salivary BPA levels, as stated by the authors in their study.…”

Section: Sanjeevmentioning

confidence: 99%

Authors' response

Jung¹,

Baik²

2017

American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics

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loss, the other 3 reasons were directly implicated with the thickness of the retainers. We assumed that this concern was because retainer loss may confound the comparison of failure of retainers with different thicknesses between the 2 groups. However, retainer loss is indeed a reason for failure, and we could not exclude it. To eliminate its potential confounding effect, we compared not only failure of retainers, but also each independent reason (fracture, retainer loss, no longer fitting, and serious abrasion) between the 2 groups. Last, Dr Goje was concerned about the strength of the statistical significance indicated with a P value of 0.028 for retainer fracture and suggested that we should provide the confidence interval for that index. Our results showed that the 95% confidence interval of the odds ratio for retainer fracture ranged from 1.057 to 26.607. This confidence interval is clearly above 1 and indicates a significant difference between the 2 groups, consistent with the P value of 0.028. Thus, we can confirm that fracture rates were significantly higher in the 0.75-mm group than in the 1.00-mm group, not by chance. We appreciate the feedback on our research and hope our response has fully addressed the concerns.

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“…The information considered is from the literature mentioned above and from the experience of the authors in this field. (However, the potential risk of toxicity when plastics containing bisphenol A are subjected to heat methods of decontamination, is not included in the discussion (Quitmeyer and Roberts, 2007; US Department of Health and & Human Services, n.d.).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pros, cons and potential risks of on-site decontamination methods used on neonatal units for articles indirectly associated with infant feeding, including breast pump collection kits and neonatal dummies

Gilks

Price

Hateley

et al. 2011

Journal of Infection Prevention

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We discuss the pros, cons and potential risks of on-site decontamination methods used on neonatal units for articles indirectly associated with infant feeding, such as breast pump collection kits and neonatal dummies (pacifiers, comforters or soothers). Some practical recommendations are made and areas requiring further review are indicated. For neonatal units, decontamination methods involving use of chlorine-releasing disinfectants or domestic steam-producing equipment should be reassessed. They would not be considered acceptable on intensive care units for adult patients.

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Babies, Bottles, and Bisphenol A: The Story of a Scientist-Mother

Abstract: A scientist and mother who studies bisphenol A, a chemical found in plastic baby bottles and cups, wrestles with the disconnect between scientific evidence that the chemical poses a special risk to children and current laws and regulations.

Cited by 13 publications

References 17 publications

Maternal Transfer of Bisphenol A During Nursing Causes Sperm Impairment in Male Offspring

Maternal Transfer of Bisphenol A During Nursing Causes Sperm Impairment in Male Offspring

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Pros, cons and potential risks of on-site decontamination methods used on neonatal units for articles indirectly associated with infant feeding, including breast pump collection kits and neonatal dummies

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