News Mediacom

Bisphenol A: mothers' exposure increases cancer risk for children

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10.10.11 - Researches find link between increased risk of breast cancer in children when mothers are exposed to Bisphenol A during pregnancy or while breast feeding. This important discovery comes on the heels of an international debate about eliminating Bisphenol A in order to protect small children.

Several countries are taking measures to limit Bisphenol A (BPA) exposure to young children. Up until now, the focus has been on baby bottles that, when heated, emit a significant quantity of the molecule. Researchers at EPFL have discovered that an indirect exposure, transmitted during pregnancy or breast feeding, brings about a modification of the child’s mammary glands and predisposes them to breast cancer.

An indirect or precocious contact to BPA produces similar effects to those induced by contact with diethylbestrol (DES), a medication known for doubling breast cancer risk in woman over 50 years old who were exposed in utero. “Until now, the public debate concentrated on direct exposure. But now there is increasing evidence that the carcinogenic effects can come from exposure while in the uterus,” explains Cathrin Brisken, director of the study.

BPA is present in plastics, CDs, cooking utensils, etc—making it difficult for the mother to avoid contact with the chemical, and a relatively small dose produces significant effects. “We exposed lab mice to doses that are similar to those people have on a daily basis,” explains the researcher.

The female offspring of these mice exposed to BPA clearly show that their mammary glands’ response to hormones is modified over the long-term. “The same process could very well happen in humans,” Brisken explains, “but it is impossible to find persons who have not been exposed to BPA in Western culture—so we cannot establish a test population. Nevertheless, we can no longer ignore the possibility that an increase in breast cancer rates is caused by exposure to BPA or other endocrine modifiers.”

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Ayyakkannu Ayyanan*, Ouahiba Laribi*, Sonia Schuepbach-Mallepell*, Christina Schrick*, Maria Gutierrez, Tamara Tanos, Gregory Lefebvre, Jacques Rougemont, Özden Yalcin-Ozuysal and Cathrin Brisken, Perinatal Exposure to Bisphenol A Increases Adult Mammary Gland Progesterone Response and Cell Number in Molecular Endocrinology 2011 me.2011-1129; doi:10.1210/me.2011-1129