A chemical commonly used in coatings on the inside of food and beverage cans and in the manufacturing of clear plastic bottles may be harmful to the heart, especially in women. According to a new study by the University of Cincinnati, the chemical, bisphenol A (BPA), may cause arrhythmias or irregular heartbeats.
BPA is found in a vast array of everyday items including baby bottles, bottle tops, and dental fillings and sealants. It has been in use for over 50 years, and is a key component of epoxy resins used to line cans, and also of polycarbonate plastics used to make bottles.
“There is a broad exposure to bisphenol A, despite recognition that BPA can have harmful effects,” said study co-author Scott Belcher, who is an associate professor of pharmacology at the University of Cincinnati. “We had reason to believe that harmful cardiovascular effects can be added to the list.”
BPA has previously been tied to diabetes, prostate and breast cancer, and neurological defects, but the new UC study links it to harmful effects on the heart in the form of arrhythmias in women. In the study, the researchers said BPA demonstrated an estrogen-like effect on the heart, altering the concentration of free calcium in the heart muscle cells of female mouse hearts and thereby causing improperly controlled beating.
“Low doses of BPA markedly increased the frequency of arrhythmic events,” said Belcher. “The effect of BPA on these cardiac arrhythmias was amplified when exposed to estradiol, the major estrogen hormone in humans.”
“Basically, it’s very clear that BPA is acting like estrogen,” Belcher told Forbes. “If we give estrogen at physiological concentrations, then add BPA, it’s actually a synergistic effect. It’s not like adding the two together. It’s worse.”
Women are more prone to die following a heart attack than men, and Belcher theorizes that a higher rate of arrhythmia in women might be at least partially to blame for their higher rate of mortality. Research to determine whether the arrhythmia/BPA link is in fact responsible for women’s higher death rate after heart attacks is being conducted but is still in early stages.
BPA is in such widespread use that in 2003—04, the Centers for Disease Control found bisphenol A in the urine of 93 percent of adults and children tested. In the light of such figures and of studies such as the new UC study, the Food and Drug Administration recently consented to reevaluate its recommendations of safe levels of BPA in common products. However, representatives of the chemical industry continue to voice their disagreement that BPA represents a threat to human health, even though more than 8 billion pounds of it are used in manufacturing every year.
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