Lifetime dietary exposure to bisphenol A in the general population and during pregnancy: Foetal exposure and health risk assessment

Bisphenol A is a well-known chemical substance triggering reprotoxic and endocrine disruptor effects. Pregnancy is considered as a critical period of exposure to BPA because of the foetal sensitivity to endocrine disruption. Because of its wide use in food packaging, BPA is found in common foods and in infant formulae. We used a lifetime approach to simulate dietary exposure trajectories of a French population and to assess the associated health risk. Moreover, a semi-physiological based toxicokinetic model was used to simulate the maternal-foetal exchanges of BPA during pregnancy. Metabolism was taken into account by considering the glucuronidation of BPA by the foetal-placental unit, as well as the reactivation of BPA-glucuronide into BPA in the foetal compartment. From maternal critical daily exposures defined by ANSES based on effects for different endpoints of BPA in the unborn child (i.e. 0.083, 0.17, 0.29 and 0.33 ?g/kg bw/d, respectively based on effects on mammary gland, brain and behaviour, metabolism and obesity and female reproductive system), resulting concentrations of BPA in the foetal compartment were estimated and health risk was assessed for the subpopulation of unborn children. This work leads to the conclusion that while a health risk due to dietary exposures of the general population can be excluded, this is not the case for the sub-population of pregnant women, in view of the levels of foetal exposure to BPA.

Automated summary

Bisphenol A is a well-known chemical substance that affects reproductive and endocrine systems, with higher sensitivity of fetuses to BPA during pregnancy. While health risks from dietary exposure to BPA can be excluded for the general population, pregnant women and their unborn children are still at risk due to the levels of fetal exposure to BPA.