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Elevated second-trimester BPA concentration adversely affects blood glucose levels
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Exposure to bisphenol A concentrations during the second trimester of pregnancy may adversely affect blood glucose levels among women, study data show.
Tamarra James-Todd, PhD, MPH, association epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School, and colleagues evaluated data from the Environment and Reproductive Health Study on 245 women with at least one urine sample during the first and/or second trimesters who delivered a singleton or twin pregnancy and had blood glucose data available between 2005 and 2015. Researchers evaluated trimester-specific urinary bisphenol A (BPA) concentrations in relation to blood glucose levels. Blood glucose levels were measured after a nonfasting 50-g glucose challenge test.
The second trimester 50-g glucose challenge tests revealed mean blood glucose levels of 117 mg/dL. BPA was detected in more than three-quarters of samples collected in early (median, 7 weeks’ gestation; 83%) and mid-pregnancy (median, 21 weeks’ gestation; 78%). Mean specific gravity-adjusted BPA concentrations were 1.39 µg/L during the first trimester and 1.27 µg/L during the second trimester.
Positive associations were found between second trimester BPA concentrations and second trimester blood glucose levels (P for trend = .01) whereas no association was found between first trimester urinary BPA concentrations and blood glucose levels.
“In this population of women at high risk of glucose intolerance who were attending a fertility center, we found urinary BPA concentrations in second trimester to be positively associated with blood glucose levels subsequently measured later on in the second trimester of pregnancy,” the researchers wrote. “On the other hand, there was no association between first-trimester urinary BPA concentration and blood glucose levels. Together, these results suggest that timing of BPA exposure, a nonpersistent chemical, may be important with respect to glucose levels during the more insulin-resistant time period of later pregnancy.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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