Plastics chemical linked to heart disease, diabetes
Study is based on data collected from human adults and matches urine concentrations of bisphenol A with type 2 diabetes, heart disease and liver enzyme problems
Urine levels of the chemical bisphenol A, found in many plastics, are strongly linked to type 2 diabetes, heart disease and liver enzyme problems, a new study suggests. The study, which examined a representative sample of the adult U.S population, appears in the Sept. 17 Journal of the American Medical Association.
“This is good news and bad news,” comments Richard Stahlhut, an environmental health research fellow at the University of Rochester. “The good news is these are man-made exposures. If the findings hold up, we could get rid of BPA and hopefully people get better. The bad news is it would mean that our system by which we determine risk is really flawed. It’s evidence that the regulatory system is inadequate in very important ways.”
In August, the Food and Drug Administration issued a draft assessment of bisphenol A that decrees the chemical safe at current exposure levels. The FDA’s bisphenol A subcommittee discussed that draft assessment at a public briefing in Rockville, Md., on September 16, the same day as the new study’s release.
The study is based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, or NHANES, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. NHANES uses physical examinations, clinical and lab tests and personal interviews to get a snapshot of the health and nutritional status of the U.S. population. The recently released 2003–2004 NHANES provided scientists with the first large-scale data set on human urinary bisphenol A concentrations.