近日，纽约大学的研究人员发现儿童和青少年肥胖与体内高水平的双酚A（BPA）有关，相关论文发表在9月19日的JAMA上。欧盟认为含BPA奶瓶会诱发性早熟，从2011年3月2日起，禁止含生产化学物质BPA的婴儿奶瓶。
双酚A，在工业上被用来合成聚碳酸酯（PC）和环氧树脂等材料。20世纪60年代以来就被用于制造塑料（奶）瓶、幼儿用的吸口杯、食品和饮料（奶粉）罐内侧涂层。BPA无处不在，从矿泉水瓶、医疗器械到及食品包装的内里，都有它的身影。
每年，全世界生产2700万吨含有BPA的塑料。但BPA也能导致内分泌失调，威胁着胎儿和儿童的健康。心血管疾病、乳腺癌、前列腺癌、脑神经失调、糖尿病和不孕不育症也被认为与此有关。
此项研究的领导者Leonardo Trasande说，这是首次发现环境中的化学物与儿童和青少年肥胖有关。由此可见，导致肥胖的不仅仅是不健康的饮食和缺乏运动。
据2003-2004年美国国家健康与营养检验调查（National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey ，NHANES），92.6%的六岁及六岁以上的人尿液中检测到BPA。另一项综合性的研究调查了灰尘、室内和室外空气、学龄前儿童的食物等，发现99%的BPA来源于食物。
在2003-2008的 NHANES，共有3000个年龄在6-19岁的儿童和青少年参与，研究人员测定他们尿液中的BPA和体重，发现尿液BPA浓度最高者肥胖的可能性是最低者的2.6倍。尿液BPA浓度高的参与者肥胖比率达22.3%，而尿液BPA浓度低的参与者肥胖比率为10.3%。
此外，研究者也发现肥胖与消费品中的其他酚类添加剂无关。Trasande说， BPA大都来自铝制易拉罐，去年FDA拒绝取消BPA在易拉罐和其他食品包装中的使用，认为减少BPA应采取合理的步骤，但是目前似乎没有必要再考虑这种化学物的安全性。（生物谷Bioon.com）
编译自Higher levels of BPA in children and teens significantly associated with obesity
doi:10.1001/2012.jama.11461
PMC:
PMID:
Association Between Urinary Bisphenol A Concentration and Obesity Prevalence in Children and Adolescents
Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP; Teresa M. Attina, MD, PhD, MPH; Jan Blustein, MD, PhD
Context Bisphenol A (BPA), a manufactured chemical, is found in canned food, polycarbonate-bottled liquids, and other consumer products. In adults, elevated urinary BPA concentrations are associated with obesity and incident coronary artery disease. BPA exposure is plausibly linked to childhood obesity, but evidence is lacking to date.
Objective To examine associations between urinary BPA concentration and body mass outcomes in children.
Design, Setting, and Participants Cross-sectional analysis of a nationally representative subsample of 2838 participants aged 6 through 19 years randomly selected for measurement of urinary BPA concentration in the 2003-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.
Main Outcome Measures Body mass index (BMI), converted to sex- and age-standardized z scores and used to classify participants as overweight (BMI ≥85th percentile for age/sex) or obese (BMI ≥95th percentile).
Results Median urinary BPA concentration was 2.8 ng/mL (interquartile range, 1.5-5.6). Of the participants, 1047 (34.1% [SE, 1.5%]) were overweight and 590 (17.8% [SE, 1.3%]) were obese. Controlling for race/ethnicity, age, caregiver education, poverty to income ratio, sex, serum cotinine level, caloric intake, television watching, and urinary creatinine level, children in the lowest urinary BPA quartile had a lower estimated prevalence of obesity (10.3% [95% CI, 7.5%-13.1%]) than those in quartiles 2 (20.1% [95% CI, 14.5%-25.6%]), 3 (19.0% [95% CI, 13.7%-24.2%]), and 4 (22.3% [95% CI, 16.6%-27.9%]). Similar patterns of association were found in multivariable analyses examining the association between quartiled urinary BPA concentration and BMI z score and in analyses that examined the logarithm of urinary BPA concentration and the prevalence of obesity. Obesity was not associated with exposure to other environmental phenols commonly used in other consumer products, such as sunscreens and soaps. In stratified analysis, significant associations between urinary BPA concentrations and obesity were found among whites (P < .001) but not among blacks or Hispanics.
Conclusions Urinary BPA concentration was significantly associated with obesity in this cross-sectional study of children and adolescents. Explanations of the association cannot rule out the possibility that obese children ingest food with higher BPA content or have greater adipose stores of BPA.
.Bisphenol A (BPA) is used to manufacture polycarbonate resin and is a breakdown product of coatings that prevent metal corrosion in food and beverage containers.1 In the US population, exposure is nearly ubiquitous, with 92.6% of persons 6 years or older identified in the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) as having detectable BPA levels in their urine.2 A comprehensive, cross-sectional study of dust, indoor and outdoor air, and solid and liquid food in preschool-aged children3 suggested that dietary sources constitute 99% of BPA exposure. BPA is rapidly excreted in urine, with a half-life in the range of 4 to 43 hours.4 - 5 However, BPA also has been detected in fat,6 and urinary BPA concentrations do not decline rapidly with fasting time, suggesting that the compound accumulates in fat and other physiologic compartments.4
.In experimental studies, BPA exposure has been shown to disrupt multiple metabolic mechanisms,7 - 8 suggesting that it may increase body mass in environmentally relevant doses9 - 10 and therefore contribute to obesity in humans. This possibility has recently been explored in adults. One cross-sectional study found an association between urinary BPA concentration and increased risk of obesity in adults in the US population, using the NHANES.11 Other studies have demonstrated associations between urinary BPA concentration and adult diabetes, cardiovascular diagnoses, and abnormalities in liver function.12 - 13 A longitudinal study of apparently healthy adults showed an association between baseline urinary BPA concentration and later-life coronary artery disease.14
.The special vulnerability of children to environmental chemicals15 amplifies concerns about BPA exposure in this population. Although obesity reflects individual behaviors, the built environment, and possibly synthetic chemical obesogens, prior studies have heavily emphasized the first 2 of these factors rather than the third.16
.We therefore examined urinary BPA concentrations and body mass outcomes in 6- to 19-year-olds in the 2003-2008 NHANES
