A new study has found higher concentrations of the common plastics chemical and environmental pollutant Bisphenol A or BPA in a pregnant mother's blood may be a contributing factor in preterm births.
The new study, led by Ramkumar Menon, assistant professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at UTMB, in collaboration with Winthrop University Hospital and Kaiser Permanente Southern California, found that pregnant women with higher levels of BPA in their blood were more likely to deliver their babies early compared to women with lower levels of BPA.
Menon said women are continuously exposed to BPA because it is used in the construction and coatings of food containers and its release into food is increased by microwave or other heat sources, adding BPA in fact is so widely used that nearly all women have some level of exposure.
Researchers from University of Texas medical branch at Galveston analyzed blood samples from pregnant women when they were admitted to the hospital for labor and delivery and from the amniotic fluid of the fetus collected during labor.
Menon pointed out the widespread use of BPA in materials of our daily life and our findings that all patients have some level of exposure suggests that contact with these materials is unavoidable. This suggests that a better understanding of how BPA may alter maternal physiology is needed to minimize the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes.
The study is published in the journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine.