Copyright © 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd All rights reserved.
Bisphenol A is released from polycarbonate drinking bottles and mimics the neurotoxic actions of estrogen in developing cerebellar neurons
Hoa H. Lea, Emily M. Carlsona, Jason P. Chuaa and Scott M. Belcher
, a, 
aDepartment of Pharmacology and Cell Biophysics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 231 Albert Sabin Way, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0575, United States
Received 27 September 2007; revised 9 November 2007; accepted 9 November 2007. Available online 19 November 2007.
Abstract
The impact of endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) exposure on human health is receiving increasingly focused attention. The prototypical EDC bisphenol A (BPA) is an estrogenic high-production chemical used primarily as a monomer for the production of polycarbonate and epoxy resins. It is now well established that there is ubiquitous human exposure to BPA. In the general population, exposure to BPA occurs mainly by consumption of contaminated foods and beverages that have contacted epoxy resins or polycarbonate plastics. To test the hypothesis that bioactive BPA was released from polycarbonate bottles used for consumption of water and other beverages, we evaluated whether BPA migrated into water stored in new or used high-quality polycarbonate bottles used by consumers. Using a sensitive and quantitative competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, BPA was found to migrate from polycarbonate water bottles at rates ranging from 0.20 ng/h to 0.79 ng/h. At room temperature the migration of BPA was independent of whether or not the bottle had been previously used. Exposure to boiling water (100 °C) increased the rate of BPA migration by up to 55-fold. The estrogenic bioactivity of the BPA-like immunoreactivity released into the water samples was confirmed using an in vitro assay of rapid estrogen signaling and neurotoxicity in developing cerebellar neurons. The amounts of BPA found to migrate from polycarbonate drinking bottles should be considered as a contributing source to the total "EDC-burden" to which some individuals are exposed.
Keywords: BPA Endocrine disruption; Estrogen; Neurotoxicity; Non-genomic
Abbreviations: BPA, 2,2-bis (4-hydroxyphenyl) propane; EDC, endocrine disrupting chemical; ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; HDPE, high-density polyethylene; HPLC, high-performance liquid chromatography; LDH, lactate dehydrogenase; PC, polycarbonate
These studies were supported by NIH grant R01-ES015145 awarded to SMB; Emily Carlson, and Jason Chua were fellows of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine's Summer Undergraduate Research Program. The study sponsors had no involvement in the design of this study, the collection, analysis or interpretation of data, the writing of this report, nor the decision to submit this manuscript for publication.Corresponding author at: Department of Pharmacology and Cell Biophysics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 231 Albert Sabin Way, PO Box 670575, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0575, United States. Tel.: +1 513 558 1721; fax: +1 513 558 4329.
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