Endocrine disruptors nonylphenol and bisphenol A (BPA) are prevalent in Taiwan’s air and drinking water, as well as most food products, researchers said, adding that exposure to the two chemicals is associated with low body weight and smaller newborns.
According to a longitudinal study that surveyed more than 200 pregnant women since 2010, infants birthed by women who were exposed to high levels of nonylphenol during the second trimester of their pregnancy were 182g lighter than the average birth weight, and were 9.4 times more likely to be shorter than 90 percent of other infants, National Yang Ming University health science professor Chen Mei-lien (陳美蓮) said on Wednesday.
Prenatal exposure to BPA resulted in a smaller head circumference — by 0.37cm on average — in newborns, the study found.
Nonylphenol is widely used in plastics, pesticides, detergents, dye and cosmetics, while BPA is commonly used as plasticizer, Chen said.
The two substances are associated with adverse reproductive effects, such as male infertility, low sperm count and premature menstruation, Chen added.
BPA had been considered an endocrine disruptor with minimal effects, but studies have shown that BPA exposure in amounts even lower than international daily intake limits can induce an estrogen-like response, Chen said.
The two substances are prevalent in the environment, Chen said, adding that the study discovered that 76.4 percent of Taiwan’s food products contained nonylphenol and 97 percent contained BPA.
The two substances were also detected in random urine samples taken from the public.
“Nonylphenol levels in food products in Taiwan were five to 10 times higher than those in Germany. BPA concentrations in food in Taiwan were also higher than those in Japan. Higher population density and higher consumption of plastic products might explain higher levels of nonylphenol and BPA in food in Taiwan,” Chen said, adding that “nonylphenol and BPA might also have entered the food chain via factory wastewater tainted with the chemicals.”
“Drinking from plastic bottles and eating with disposable tableware should be avoided as much as possible, as the materials release nonylphenol and BPA. Even drinking water and indoor dust particles contain nonylphenol and BPA, which probably originate from furniture and clothes made with recycled plastic materials,” National Taiwan University public health professor Wang Gen-shuh (王根樹) said.
While the EU last year reduced the tolerable daily intake of BPA from 0.05mg per kilogram to 0.004mg per kilogram, Taiwan still does not have an intake suggestion, Wang said.
“Our study shows that some infants were exposed to BPA levels that were higher than the EU’s tolerable daily intake. The government should consider formulating a maximum intake suggestion and try to reduce people’s exposure to endocrine disruptors,” Wang said.
The adult daily dietary exposure to nonylphenol and BPA did not exceed international limits, they said.
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