Blood Pressure and Urinary Bisphenol A Concentrations After Soda Consumption from Cans
Final Report Abstract
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a substance used in the manufacture of plastics. It is used, among other things, in food packaging, for example in polycarbonates or epoxy resins, as they are found in the inner coating of food and beverage cans. Cell culture and animal experiments have shown that BPA can disrupt the hormonal balance in the organism. Although there are few studies in humans, epidemiological studies suggest an association between BPA exposure and cardiovascular disease, diabetes, liver and kidney disease and reduced fertility. According to studies in the USA and Europe, BPA is detectable in the urine of over 95% of the population. It is assumed that the main source of BPA for humans is food, with a share of 90 %, 5 % is absorbed through dust, dental treatments and through skin contact with cosmetics and receipts (thermal paper). In recent years, due to the concerning health effects, the use of BPA in food contact products has been restricted. In the EU, the use of BPA in food contact materials is allowed, but is limited to a specific migration level (SML) of 0.05 mg/kg. The tolerable daily intake of BPA is currently set at 4 mg/kg body weight. These restrictions led to the search for BPA-alternatives for the use in products containing polycarbonates or epoxy resins. Already in use are the structurally similar bisphenols F (BPF) and S (BPS), but there are few studies on the frequency of their use and their effects on human health. Therefore, we conducted a randomized crossover intervention study to investigate whether consumption of soft drinks from cans increases urinary bisphenol concentrations compared to consumption of soft drinks from glass bottles and PET bottles. Furthermore, we tested whether the consumption of soft drinks from cans increases blood pressure compared to the consumption of soft drinks from glass bottles or PET bottles. The results of our study showed increased urinary BPA concentrations after consumption of the soft drink from cans compared to PET bottles. No other differences could be found. Overall, the bisphenol concentrations determined in our study were very low compared to other human biomonitoring studies. We could not detect an effect on blood pressure that was dependent on the packaging material. Due to the low bisphenol concentrations and the limited number of study participants, these results should be interpreted with caution. We were surprised that the BPA concentrations in the urine were significantly increased after consumption of the soft drink from cans compared to PET bottles, but this difference was not seen in the comparison of cans with glass bottles. The reason for this remains unclear.
