Urinary Bisphenol A and Hypertension in a Multiethnic Sample of US Adults

Abstract

Background. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a common chemical used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, with >93% of US adults having detectable BPA levels in urine. Recent animal studies have suggested that BPA exposure may have a role in several mechanisms involved in the development of hypertension, including weight gain, insulin resistance, thyroid dysfunction, endothelial dysfunction, and oxidative stress. However, no previous human study has examined the association between markers of BPA exposure and hypertension. Methods. We examined urinary BPA levels in 1380 subjects from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey 2003-2004. Main outcome-of-interest was hypertension, defined as blood pressure-reducing medication use and/or blood pressures >140/90 mm of Hg (n = 580). Results. We observed a positive association between increasing levels of urinary BPA and hypertension independent of confounding factors such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, smoking, body mass index (BMI), diabetes mellitus and total serum cholesterol levels. Compared to tertile 1 (referent), the multivariate-adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of hypertension associated with tertile 3 was 1.50 (1.12−2.00); P-trend = 0.007. The association was consistently present in subgroup analyses by race/ethnicity, smoking status, BMI, and diabetes mellitus. Conclusions. Urinary BPA levels are associated with hypertension, independent of traditional risk factors.

Exposure to Bisphenol A From Drinking Canned Beverages Increases Blood Pressure

“…10,11 Hypertension is a risk factor of cardiovascular diseases, and the 20 mm Hg increase of systolic BP doubles the risk of cardiovascular disease. 32 In light of this, the 5 mm Hg increase observed in the present trial may cause a clinically significant increase of risk of cardiovascular disorders, such as heart diseases and peripheral arterial diseases, which were associated with increased BPA concentration in the previous epidemiological studies.…”

“…10 A previous study that analyzed the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data set also reported that increased urinary BPA concentration was associated with hypertension. 11 Furthermore, other studies had reported that increased urinary BPA was associated with heart and peripheral artery diseases, of which hypertension and decreased HRV are important risk factors. 9,[12][13][14] Considering that most of the previous epidemiological studies examined the crosssectional associations between urinary BPA concentration and health outcomes, a randomized intervention trial can provide a higher level of evidence and may elucidate the health effect of BPA more clearly.…”

Adverse Effects of Bisphenol A on Male Reproductive Function

“…Humans are mainly exposed to BPA through food ingestion (Yamada et al 2002 ), and increasing evidence supports its association with impairment of male reproductive function, as well as other health problems and diseases; such diseases include diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer (Li et al 2010aSalian et al 2011 ;Batista et al 2012 ;Shankar and Teppala 2012 ;Lee et al 2012 ;Wang et al 2012a ). BPA acts primarily by mimicking the effect of estrogen hormones, modifying DNA methylation, and modulating enzyme activities in utero and in vivo, resulting in metabolic diseases, spermatogenesis defects, and/or infertility in males.…”

Association between levels of serum bisphenol A, a potentially harmful chemical in plastic containers, and carotid artery intima-media thickness in adolescents and young adults

“…In previous epidemiologic studies, BPA levels have been shown to be associated with insulin resistance [9], type 2 diabetes mellitus [4,10,11], obesity [13], metabolic syndrome [12] and hypertension [14,15]. All these factors have been implicated in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis.…”

“…Exposure to BPA is associated with increased risk of insulin resistance [9], type 2 diabetes [4,10,11], metabolic syndrome [12] and obesity [13]. Additionally, higher urinary BPA was associated with changes in heart rate variability and higher blood pressure [14,15]. Several pieces of published data have established an association between BPA exposure and the risk of atherosclerosis or cardiovascular diseases in adults.…”