Bisphenol A or BPA is a substance that is used in plasticizers and with which we come into contact daily because it is present in numerous everyday products, from cosmetics and hygiene products to food packaging. The health risks of bisphenol A have long been warned, and now a new study has found a link between this common plastic additive and an increased incidence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. (ADHD).
The research has been conducted by scientists at the Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine at Rowan University and Rutgers University of New Jersey Medical School in Newark and has found that children with ASD and ADHD often have reduced ability to eliminate bisphenol A from your body, which increases your exposure to this plastic additive.
Previous studies have found associations between children with autism and BPA exposure, while the new work has revealed that the reason for the link is decreased efficiency in a key step involved in removing BPA. After ingesting or inhaling BPA, the substance is filtered from the blood in the liver through a process called glucuronidation, which is the process of adding a sugar molecule to a toxin. By doing so, the toxin becomes water-soluble, allowing it to quickly leave the body through urine.
Children with ASD or ADHD have more difficulty eliminating BPA
A person’s ability to eliminate BPA depends on factors associated with their genetics. Genetically susceptible people have a harder time detoxifying their blood through this process, meaning their tissues are exposed to BPA at higher concentrations for longer periods of time.
Genetically susceptible people have a harder time detoxifying their blood and their tissues are exposed to BPA at higher concentrations for longer periods of time.
The team evaluated the effectiveness of glucuronidation in three groups of children selected at Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School clinics: 66 with autism, 46 with ADHD, and 37 healthy children. The study showed that for a significant proportion of children with autism the ability to add the glucose molecule to BPA is approximately 10% less than that of children in the control group who did not have autism, while for a significant proportion of children with ADHD, it is about 17% less. The findings have been published in PLOS ONE.
The compromised ability to remove such environmental pollutants from the body is “the first solid biochemical evidence of the link between BPA and the development of autism or ADHD,” said T. Peter Stein, senior author of the study and professor of surgery at Rowan-Virtua. “We were surprised to discover that ADHD shows the same defect in BPA detoxification.”
This scientist has indicated that it is necessary to continue research to determine whether autism and ADHD develop in the womb through greater exposure of the mother, or of the child at some point after birth. In his opinion, there are likely other factors behind the development of autism and ADHD.
The inability to effectively remove these chemicals from the blood is not present in all children with neurodevelopmental disorders, but compromised removal of BPA is an “important pathway; Otherwise, it would not have been so easily detectable in a moderately sized study,” Stein concludes.
