Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Study: plastic chemical damages brain

|
|
 
  
Published: April 13, 2005 at 7:49 PM
Advertisement

NEW HAVEN, Conn., April 13 (UPI) -- Scientists at Yale University say they've found bisphenol-A, a chemical found in many food-storage plastics, can lead to neurological diseases.

The researchers said small doses of BPA can lead to learning disabilities and age-related neurodegenerative diseases.

"These data heighten concerns about the potential long-term consequences of human BPA exposure," said Neil MacLusky of Helen Hayes Hospital, who conducted the study alongside Csaba Leranth, professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences and in the Department of Neurobiology at Yale School of Medicine.

The scientists found low doses of BPA in female rats inhibited estrogen-induction of synaptic connections in the hippocampus, an area of the brain involved with expression of sexually differentiated behaviors and with formation and retention of memory.

MacLusky said high concentrations of BPA have been reported in the blood of some pregnant women and BPA contamination could adversely affect human hippocampal development, with long-term effects on children's learning ability.

Topics: Helen Hayes
© 2005 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Notable deaths of 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee AmfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala
Indianapolis 500 Presidential Medal of Freedom Memorial Day around the nation
Additional Science News Stories
1 of 32
Marilyn Monroe Cupcake Portrait at Madame Tussauds in New York
View Caption
A one-of-a-kind 8 x 4 foot portrait of Marilyn Monroe made from 2,100 bite sized stuffed cupcakes stands in the lobby next to her wax figure on the eve of Marilyn Monroe's 86th birthday at Madame Tussauds in New York City on May 31, 2012. UPI/John Angelillo
fark
Aussie truck driver's answer to the age-old question "How do you get a sheep to push back?"
Change you can believe in: America lost 129,000 millionaires in 2011. Sales of tiny violins, however,...
Paralyzed rats. See how they run. They all ran after the scientist's wife, who cut their spines...
Murderer admits to eating victim's heart and brains, made no comment on the appropriate wine pairing...
According to FB, Drew is drunk as Cooter Brown and up to shenanigans. Grab yer popcorn
Photoshop this side dish