Gender bending chemical 'makes girls aggressive'
Oct 25, 2011 0:29:51 GMT -5
Post by shann0 on Oct 25, 2011 0:29:51 GMT -5
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8845117/Gender-bending-chemical-makes-girls-aggressive.html
Gender bending chemical 'makes girls aggressive'
Exposing unborn baby girls to a chemical found in everyday plastics could cause behavioural and emotional problems in later life, warns a new study.
1:44PM BST 23 Oct 2011
The chemical, biosphenol also known as BPA, is often used to make plastic water bottles and in the lining of tin cans and has already been linked with an increased risk of cardiovasuclar disease and diabetes.
Lead author Joe Braun, research fellow in environmental health at Harvard School of Public Health in the United States, said: "The study confirms two prior studies showing that exposure to BPA in the womb impacts child behaviour, but is the first to show that in utero exposures are more important than exposures during childhood."
The team collected urine samples from 244 mothers during pregnancy and again at birth and compared them to samples taken from their children aged between one and three.
Braun added: "None of the children had clinically abnormal behaviour, but some children had more behaviour problems than others.
"Thus, we examined the relationship between the mom's and children's BPA concentrations and the different behaviours."
BPA was found in 85 per cent of the urine samples from the mothers and in over 96 per cent of the children's samples.
The researchers found that maternal BPA concentrations were similar between the first sample and birth. The children's BPA levels decreased from ages 1 to 3, but were higher and more variable than that of their mothers.
After adjusting for possible contributing factors, the high BPA concentrations were associated with more hyperactive, aggressive, anxious, and depressed behaviour and poorer emotional control in the girls. This relationship was not seen in the boys.
More research is needed to fully understand the health effects of BPA exposure to babies in the womb but the clinicians have advised pregnant women to minimise their exposure to the chemical by avoiding canned and packaged foods.
Bruce Lanphear of Simon Fraser University was senior author of the study conducted along with representatives from Harvard School of Public Health, Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Medical Centre, and Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Gender bending chemical 'makes girls aggressive'
Exposing unborn baby girls to a chemical found in everyday plastics could cause behavioural and emotional problems in later life, warns a new study.
1:44PM BST 23 Oct 2011
The chemical, biosphenol also known as BPA, is often used to make plastic water bottles and in the lining of tin cans and has already been linked with an increased risk of cardiovasuclar disease and diabetes.
Lead author Joe Braun, research fellow in environmental health at Harvard School of Public Health in the United States, said: "The study confirms two prior studies showing that exposure to BPA in the womb impacts child behaviour, but is the first to show that in utero exposures are more important than exposures during childhood."
The team collected urine samples from 244 mothers during pregnancy and again at birth and compared them to samples taken from their children aged between one and three.
Braun added: "None of the children had clinically abnormal behaviour, but some children had more behaviour problems than others.
"Thus, we examined the relationship between the mom's and children's BPA concentrations and the different behaviours."
BPA was found in 85 per cent of the urine samples from the mothers and in over 96 per cent of the children's samples.
The researchers found that maternal BPA concentrations were similar between the first sample and birth. The children's BPA levels decreased from ages 1 to 3, but were higher and more variable than that of their mothers.
After adjusting for possible contributing factors, the high BPA concentrations were associated with more hyperactive, aggressive, anxious, and depressed behaviour and poorer emotional control in the girls. This relationship was not seen in the boys.
More research is needed to fully understand the health effects of BPA exposure to babies in the womb but the clinicians have advised pregnant women to minimise their exposure to the chemical by avoiding canned and packaged foods.
Bruce Lanphear of Simon Fraser University was senior author of the study conducted along with representatives from Harvard School of Public Health, Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Medical Centre, and Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia.