14 DAY TRIAL // Bisphenol A (BPA) was first synthesized in 1891 and was investigated in the 1930s during the search for synthetic estrogens.
Another synthesized compound, diethylstilbestrol, proved more powerful than estrogen, so bisphenol A was not employed as a synthetic estrogen. Currently, it is a primary monomer in polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins.
Bisphenol A is also employed as an antioxidant in plasticizers and as an inhibitor for polymerization in PVC. These plastics are a common constituent of many products, from sunglasses and CDs to water and food containers and shatter-resistant baby bottles.
Some polymers used in dental fillings also contain bisphenol A, while epoxy is a common coating for the inside of cans in food industry.
BPA leaches from plastics get cleaned with harsh detergents containing acidic components or at high temperature.
Now, most people in developed countries present this chemical at very low concentrations.
A recent research at Yale School of Medicine, made by Dr. Hugh S. Taylor, associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences and Caroline C. Smith of the Department of Epidemiology, showed that BPA can have long-term severe impacts in a woman's development.
"The study shows that BPA changes the expression of key developmental genes that form the uterus. If pregnant women are exposed to the estrogen-like properties found in BPA, it may impact female reproductive tract development and the future fertility of female fetuses the mother is carrying", explained Taylor.
The researchers administered to pregnant female mice various doses of BPA on days 9-16 of their pregnancies, in order to assess BPA impact on the HOXA10 gene, linked to uterine development.
They discovered that BPA does impair the activation of the HOXA 10 gene, thus in humans this exposure to the popular plastics could provoke sterility. "The net effect is concerning. We are all exposed to multiple estrogen-like chemicals in industrial products, food and pollutants", said Taylor.