News Release

First study to show that bisphenol A exposure increases risk of future onset of heart disease

Peer-Reviewed Publication

The Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a controversial chemical widely used in the plastics industry. A new study followed people over a 10-year time period and shows that healthy people with higher urine concentrations of BPA were more likely to later develop heart disease.

The study was carried out by researchers at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, the University of Exeter and the European Centre for the Environment and Human Health, in association with the University of Cambridge. The analysis was funded by the British Heart Foundation. The paper is published online in Circulation – a Journal of the American Heart Association.

The research team had previously identified the link between BPA and the increased risk of cardiovascular disease by using two sets of US data, which are effectively snapshots in time. The previous data showed a correlation between exposure to BPA and cardiovascular disease but it could not help researchers to predict how exposure to the chemical might affect future health.

The most recent study uses data from the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC) in Norfolk, UK, a long term population study led by the University of Cambridge, supported by the Medical Research Council UK and Cancer Research UK. It is the first time that data has been used to establish a link between exposure to BPA and future onset of cardiovascular disease.

The study compared urine BPA measures from 758 initially healthy EPIC study respondents who later developed cardiovascular disease, and 861 respondents who remained heart disease free. The findings of the study show that those who developed heart disease tended to have higher urinary BPA concentrations at the start of the 10-year period. The extent of the effect is very difficult to estimate given that just one urine specimen from each participant was available for testing at the beginning of the 10-year follow-up.

Professor David Melzer of the Peninsula Medical School, who led the team, said: "This study strengthens the statistical link between BPA and heart disease, but we can't be certain that BPA itself is responsible. It is now important that government agencies organise drug style safety trials of BPA in humans, as much basic information about how BPA behaves in the human body is still unknown."

Professor Tamara Galloway of the University of Exeter, senior author on the paper, said: "If BPA itself is directly responsible for this increase in risk, the size of effect is difficult to estimate. However, it adds to the evidence that BPA may be an additional contributor to heart disease risk alongside the major risk factors, such as smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels."

BPA is one of the world's highest production volume chemicals. The global population is exposed to BPA primarily through packaged food and drink, but also through drinking water, dental sealants, exposure to the skin and the inhalation of household dust.

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To access the paper: http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/early/2012/02/21/CIRCULATIONAHA.111.069153.full.pdf?ijkey=zyYQNfz2ya0mZ0c&keytype=ref

The Peninsula Medical School is a joint entity of the University of Exeter, the University of Plymouth and the NHS in the South West of England, and a partner of the Combined Universities in Cornwall. The Peninsula Medical School has created for itself an excellent national and international reputation for groundbreaking research in the areas of diabetes and obesity, neurological disease, child development and ageing, clinical education, health and the environment and health technology assessment. The Peninsula Medical School is licensed under the Human Tissue Act to hold ethically acquired human tissue.

The Peninsula Dental School was established in 2006 following a successful bid by the Peninsula Medical School. It is a joint entity of the University of Exeter and the University of Plymouth, and the NHS throughout Devon and Cornwall. It is the first new dental school in the UK for 40 years. Its first cohort of students graduated in July 2011.

The University of Exeter is a leading UK university and in the top one percent of institutions globally. It combines world-class research with very high levels of student satisfaction. Exeter is ranked 9th in The Sunday Times University Guide, 10th in the UK in The Times Good University Guide 2012 and 11th in the Guardian University Guide 2012. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 90% of the University's research was rated as being at internationally recognised levels and 16 of its 31 subjects are ranked in the top 10, with 27 subjects ranked in the top 20.

The University has over 17,000 students and is developing its campuses in Exeter and Cornwall with almost £350 million worth of new facilities due for completion by 2012.

www.exeter.ac.uk

For further information:
Andrew Gould
The Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry
+44 (0)1884 38346
+44 (0)7971 966 283
Email: andrew.gould@pcmd.ac.uk

Sarah Hoyle
Media Relations Manager
University of Exeter
+44 (0)1392 722062 / +44 (0)7827 309332
s.hoyle@exeter.ac.uk


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