[A new study published in the journal Circulation is the first of its kind to find a direct link between higher BPA exposure in healthy adults and a greater risk of developing heart disease in the future. "This study takes a lot of the question out of, 'Does BPA really affect heart disease risk? Is this is a real effect?'" says BPA expert Laura Vandenberg, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow of biology at the Center for Developmental and Regenerative Biology at Tufts University in Massachusetts. "This research suggests so, and it shouldn't be ignored."
In the latest study, researchers looked at urine samples of about 750 initially healthy adults who later developed cardiovascular disease and compared them to samples from 860 adults who remained heart disease free. "They simply looked at urine collections 10 years ago and checked to see if people developed cardiovascular disease within a 10-year period," explains Vandenberg, who was not involved with this study.
The initially healthy people who wound up developing heart disease had higher BPA concentrations in their urine at the beginning of the 10-year period, compared to those who stayed heart disease free. "If BPA itself is directly responsible for this increase in risk, the size of effect is difficult to estimate," says senior study author Tamara Galloway, PhD, professor of the University of Exeter. "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."
Many researchers have long believed that BPA's most damaging effects harm developing fetuses because they are more sensitive to hormone-disrupting chemicals than adults. "This study suggests that is not a correct premise," Vandenberg says. "Adults are sensitive to this chemical, and probably other chemicals. There probably is no safe period of exposure."
The latest research comes on the heels of a lab study published in December in the online journal PLoS ONE that found even small doses of BPA, ones we're commonly exposed to, could lead to heart arrhythmia, erratic beating that could cause sudden cardiac death.] -source: health.msn.com
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