Health Risk Assessment of Exposure to Bisphenol A in Polymeric Baby Bottles

Abstract

In recent decades, paying attention to bisphenol A (BPA), as one of the endocrine disruptor compounds, has increased due to its harmful effects. Although, scattered studies have been conducted in order to measure BPA concentration migrated into polymeric baby bottles in different countries of the world, there are no review studies and evaluation with a global perspective in the field of BPA risk. Some of these studies indicated the potential risks and estrogenic effects associated with BPA in babies’ daily intake. For this purpose, we reviewed the information on the migration levels of BPA into baby bottles has been reported in 10 countries. The potential risks associated with BPA through the daily intake as well as the estrogenic effect on 3 age groups of babies which include 0 to 6, 6 to 12, and 12 to 24 months were analyzed using the Monte Carlo simulation. Also, kinetic models were applied to predict the kinetics of the migration process of BPA. The median daily intake for 3 age groups was obtained as 191.1, 161.37, and 153.76 µg/kg/day, respectively; which indicated Hazard Index (HI) > 1. The median estrogenic effect for the 3 groups was estimated to be 0.021 ngE2/L. The kinetics of contaminant transfer with Polynomial model at 2 temperatures of 24°C and 40°C showed a better fit with R2 = 0.99 and 0.91, respectively. Based on the risk assessment analysis conducted in the present study, the BPA migration in baby bottles appeared to be a health concern for babies. Therefore, it is needed to increase the safety level of bottles for babies as they are sensitive and vulnerable members of every society. Furthermore, in this study, only the investigation of the global situation of BPA in polymeric baby bottles was stated; therefore, more investigation about another potential sources of BPA in food chain is needed.