An article in Newsday.com reports that research recently published by a scientist at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill connects behavior problems in humans with the chemical Bisphenol A.

According to the article, “Studies in mice have shown fetal BPA exposure can abolish or reverse inherent behavioral differences between the sexes—specifically, females act more aggressively—and those studies prompted questions about what the chemical does to humans.”

Newsday.com writes: “Joe Braun, a doctoral student in epidemiology at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and one of the authors of the aggression study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, said researchers began examining the effects of BPA two years ago with a group of pregnant women enrolled in a larger study into lead.

“The researchers measured BPA levels in urine samples from 249 women at three different times during their pregnancies: 16 weeks, 26 weeks, and birth. Later, they observed the women's children at age 2, using a standard behavioral test.

“They found women who had the highest concentrations of BPA at 16 weeks of pregnancy were inclined to have more aggressive, hyperactive 2-year-old daughters. There was no statistically significant change of behavior among the boys, although there was some evidence of heightened anxiety and depression.”

Read more articles on BPA on GreenerPackage.com.