New Study Questions BPA Link to Preterm Births

A study examining increased preterm birth rates in the United States
has found “little evidence of a relationship between BPA [bisphenol A] and
prematurity.” David Cantonwine, et al., “Urinary Bisphenol A Levels
during Pregnancy and Risk of Preterm Birth,” Environmental Health
Perspectives, September 2015. After analyzing urinary BPA levels
throughout pregnancy in 130 cases of preterm birth (PTB) and 352
randomly assigned controls, researchers with Harvard Medical School
and University of Michigan School of Public Health report that, “[i]n adjusted models, urinary BPA averaged across pregnancy was not
significantly associated with PTB.” They note, however, that “averaged
BPA exposure during pregnancy was associated with significantly
increased odds of being delivered preterm among females, but not
males.”

“Our study had several strengths, including a repeated time point
assessment of BPA exposure, ultrasound dating of gestational age,
physician-validated clinical outcomes, and a large number of subjects
and preterm cases, which allowed for exploring the heterogeneous nature
of PTB,” concludes the study. “Still, results from our secondary analyses
of subtypes of PTB and stratification on infant sex should be interpreted
cautiously… We acknowledge that the few significant associations found
in our analysis may be attributable to chance alone, and larger follow-up
studies to replicate the findings are warranted.”

Issue 577