Volume 8, Issue 3 pp. 272-283
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Bisphenol A Exposure in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

T. Peter Stein

Corresponding Author

T. Peter Stein

Department of Surgery, Rowan University-SOM, 2 Medical Center Drive, Stratford, New Jersey, 08084

Address for correspondence and reprints: T. Peter Stein, Department of Surgery, Rowan University-SOM, 2 Medical Center Drive, Stratford, NJ 08084; Science Center, 2 Medical Center Drive, Stratford, NJ 08084. E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author
Margaret D. Schluter

Margaret D. Schluter

Department of Surgery, Rowan University-SOM, 2 Medical Center Drive, Stratford, New Jersey, 08084

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Robert A. Steer

Robert A. Steer

Department of Psychiatry, Rowan University-SOM, 2 Medical Center Drive, Stratford, New Jersey, 08084

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Lining Guo

Lining Guo

Metabolon Inc., 617 Davis Drive, Suite 400, Durham, North Carolina, 27713

Department of Neurosciences and Neurology, Rutgers University –New Jersey Medical School, 90 Bergen Street, Newark, New Jersey, 07103

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Xue Ming

Xue Ming

Sleep Medicine Center, JFK Hospital, Seton Hall University, Edison, New Jersey, 08820

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First published: 13 January 2015
Citations: 114

Conflict of interest: None of the authors have any conflicts of interest.

Abstract

The etiology of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is believed to involve genetic and environmental components. This study focused on the plasticizer, Bisphenol-A (BPA). The major pathway for BPA metabolism and excretion is via glucuronidation. To determine whether there was a relationship between BPA exposure and ASD, urine specimens were collected from 46 children with ASD and 52 controls. Free and total BPA concentrations were determined by mass spectrometry. The fraction glucuronidated was calculated from the difference. A metabolomics study was done to investigate metabolite distribution in the urine. (i) Most of the BPA excreted in the urine was as the glucuronide; (ii) about 20% of the ASD children had BPA levels beyond the 90th percentile (>50 ng/mL) of the frequency distribution for the total sample of 98 children; (iii) Mann–Whitney U tests and multiple regression analyses found significant differences (P < 0.05) between the groups in total and % bound BPA; and (iv) the metabolomics analyses showed the number of absolute partial correlations >|0.30| between metabolite concentrations and total BPA was ∼3 times greater with the ASD group than the controls (P < 0.001), and the number of absolute partial correlations > |0.30| for % bound BPA was ∼15 times higher with ASD (P < 0.001). The results suggest there is an association between BPA and ASD. Autism Res 2015, 8: 272–283. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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