A University of Cincinnati (UC) research team, headed by Scott Belcher, PhD, reports in two articles in the December 2005 edition of the journal Endocrinology that BPA shows negative effects in brain tissue "at surprisingly low doses."

The research was supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.

"These new studies are also the first to show that estrogen's rapid signaling mechanisms are active in the developing and maturing brain in regions not thought to be involved with sexual differences or reproductive functions," Dr. Belcher said.

BPA has often been implicated in disease or developmental problems.

Long known to act as an artificial estrogen, the primary hormone involved in female sexual development, BPA has already been shown to increase breast cancer cell growth, and in the January 2005 edition of the journal Cancer Research, another UC research team reported that it increased the growth of some prostate cancer cells as well. Warnings about other possible long-term health risks associated with fetal exposures to BPA have also been discussed in recent scientific literature.

"BPA molecules are linked into polymers used to create polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins that are widely used in many products," said Dr. Belcher, an associate professor in the pharmacology and cell biophysics department at UC College of Medicine. "While plastics are typically thought of as being stable, scientists have known for many years that the chemical linkage between BPA molecules was unstable, and that BPA leaches into food or beverages in contact with the plastics."

Dr. Belcher and his colleagues worked with rats at a period in their developmen
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Contact: David Bracey
david.bracey@uc.edu
513-558-4559
University of Cincinnati
2-Dec-2005