Associations between circulating levels of bisphenol A and phthalate metabolites and coronary risk in the elderly

Studies have pointed out associations between various chemicals with estrogenic activity and cardiovascular disease. Being ubiquitous, the plastic additive substances bisphenol A (BPA), and phthalates have been detected in almost all types of analyzed human samples. The aim of this study was to investigate whether circulating levels of BPA and/or four selected phthalate metabolites are associated to coronary risk in an elderly population. In the Prospective Investigation of the Vasculature in Uppsala Seniors (PIVUS) study, coronary risk was assessed by the Framingham Risk Score (FRS) together with circulating serum levels of BPA and the four phthalate metabolites monoisobutyl phthalate (MiBP), monomethyl phthalate (MMP), monoethyl phthalate (MEP), mono-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP) in 1016 subjects aged 70 years. BPA, MEHP, and MMP were associated to LDL-cholesterol and MEHP to HDL-cholesterol, MEP to diastolic blood pressure and MiBP to fasting glucose when the compounds were investigated one by one. After Bonferronni correction, only the relations for MMP to LDL-cholesterol (p<0.0001), MEP to diastolic blood pressure (p<0.0002), and MiBP to fasting glucose (p<0.0001) remained significant. MMP was associated to the FRS (p=0.02), but after Bonferronni correction, this association was not significant. In conclusion, associations were found between MMP and LDL-cholesterol, MEP and diastolic blood pressure, and MiBP and fasting glucose. We did not observe any strong associations between BPA nor any of the four phthalate metabolites and Framingham Risk Score in this elderly population. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.