Swedish meatballs researchers claim that a single postnatal dose of the dreaded bisphenol A (BPA) changes adult behavior.
But:
- The same change in behavior has been observed with single high doses of the unrelated chemicals DDT, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, perfluorinated compounds and polychlorinated biphenyls, suggesting that this is simply the unique response of the neonatal mouse to a single high dose of any organic chemical.
- The reported change in behavior — the mice were less active when first placed in new surroundings — is of uncertain relevance (if any) for human health.
- Effects were observed only at very high BPA doses, 3.2 milligrams per kilogram-body weight and higher. This dose is 64 times higher than the Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI = 50 micrograms per kilogram-body weight per day) set by the European Food Safety Authority, and recently affirmed by its scientific advisory committee. The TDI in turn is over 1000 times higher than a recent estimate of mean total exposure to BPA (34 nanograms per kilogram-bodyweight per day), based on biomonitoring data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Lakind & Naiman, J. Exposure Sci. Environ. Epidemiol. 2010: 1-8, 2010).
In short, the dose tested is an unrealistically high dose and of no relevance to human safety or exposure. Even more tersely; this is junk science.
So if we give a pregnant woman (50 kg) a 1.5 g shot (3 of the big pills) of pure Bisphenol A, Her children will be measurably lethargic. So let’s not make any toxic industrial chemicals in a form that resembles a giant prenatal vitamin and we should be good.