Bibliometric Analysis of the Toxicity of Bisphenol A

Bisphenol A (BPA) is used worldwide and research on the toxicity of BPA has advanced rapidly in the last few decades. This study aimed to evaluate the global scientific output of toxicity of BPA and explore the hot spots and research trends. All available articles related to the toxicity of BPA until 2022 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database. The VOSviewer, a bibliometric analysis software, was used to analyze the information of included articles, including countries/institutions, international cooperation, journals, citations, and keywords. Among 1644 retrieved articles, 1611 eligible studies were identified for analysis, and the annual publications increased with time in the past three decades. China and the United States were the most active contributors in this field. Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Dow chemical company conducted relatively more research than others about BPA toxicity. The journal Chemosphere published the most studies on BPA toxicity. Before 2015, most research focused on estrogenic activity and the test system mainly utilized animal experiments. However, in recent years, research related to toxic mechanisms of BPA at the cellular level and the toxicity of its analogs have received widespread attention. Considering some critical research gaps, future research on BPA toxicology should probably focus on the molecular biology of toxic mechanism, mixture toxicity, and co-exposure of BPA substitutes. This study will help researchers understand past and current research trends, hot spots, and trends of toxicity studies of BPA and, thus, contribute to further research and risk management of BPA.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the global scientific output of Bisphenol A (BPA) toxicity and identified hot spots and research trends. China and the United States were the most active contributors in this field, with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Dow chemical company conducting relatively more research. The annual publications on BPA toxicity have increased over the past three decades, with a shift in focus towards studying the toxic mechanisms at the cellular level and the toxicity of BPA analogs.