Fetal BPA Exposures Increases Risk of Reduced Lung Function

Pregnant women who are exposed to bisphenoal A (BPA), a chemical that's commonly found in plastics, are at an increased risk of having children with several mental health problems, including slow development and behavioral issues, according to recent findings published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

"We found that prenatal BPA exposure that occurred during early pregnancy was inconsistently associated with diminished lung function, increased odds of wheeze and a persistent wheeze phenotype in young children. ... If future studies confirm that prenatal BPA exposure may be a risk factor for impaired respiratory heath, it may offer another avenue to prevent the development of asthma," said the study authors, in a news release.

In the study, researchers examined 398 mother-infant pairs during the 16th and 26th week of pregnancy. Throughout this time, the researchers collected urine samples form the mothers to measure BPA levels as they collected urine samples every year from the children until they turned five-years-old to assess their level of exposure.

Researchers found that for every 10-fold increase in the average BPA concentration measured in the mothers' urine samples, there was a 14.2 percent reduction in the rate of predicted FEV1, which meausres lung function. Furthermore, this relationship was no longer noticeable when the children turned five.

The urinary BPA concentration was also tied to a 54.8 percent greater risk of wheezing in the children, which more specifically showed a 10-fold increase in maternal urinary BPA concentration at week 16 that was linked to a 4.27-fold increased risk of persistent wheezing.