more on 'bisP-A SPEEDS ONSET OF PUBERTY IN MICE'

[ttweed@wildrockies.org (Tony Tweedale)]

Exposure to Estrogen-Based Plastics Speeds Onset of Puberty in Mice

WESTPORT, Oct 21 (Reuters Health) - A study published today
in the October 21st issue of Nature shows that mice exposed
to bisphenol A had an overall earlier onset of puberty and
increased risk of obesity compared with unexposed mice.
Bisphenol A was developed as a synthetic estrogen but is now
used in the making of plastics.

Dr. Frederick vom Saal, of the University of Missouri in
Columbia, and colleagues fed bisphenol A to pregnant mice at a
dose "...similar to levels at which humans are routinely
exposed," according to a university statement. Exposure
induced early puberty and was associated with body weight
20% greater than that in unexposed mice.

The effect was stronger in animals with higher levels of
natural estrogen than in those with lower levels, the
researchers observed. Exposure did not appear to affect the
mothers.

"People sometimes get confused if 100% of the population
doesn't exhibit the exact same symptoms to a chemical, but
there are varying effects in the animal as well as the human
population," Dr. vom Saal commented in the university
statement. "The whole idea of government regulation is to
protect the most sensitive subpopulation, which our findings
identify as having the highest levels of natural estrogen."

"We're not offering an answer concerning effects in humans
with these findings; instead, the findings pose a question
regarding human health," he added. "We believe that the
medical community should take a long look at this study and
consider looking at [bisphenol A] as a possible cause for the
changes in growth, sexual maturation and reproductive
abnormalities that have been reported in the humans in the
past decades."

The investigators note that bisphenol A can be found in baby
bottles, toys, food storage containers, computers and other
household items.

Nature 1999;401:763-765.

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