HIGHER BPA LEVELS INCREASE TO HEART DISEASE RISK

Healthy people who have higher urine concentrations of bisphenol A (BPA) are have a higher risk of developing heart disease, according to a new study published online in the journal Circulation.

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, examined data from the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC), a long-term population study, 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 showed 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.

“This study strengthens the statistical link between BPA and heart disease, but we can’t be certain that BPA itself is responsible." the researchers 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."