Drinking Water From Plastic Containers Could Lead To Obesity

Pregnant women, who drink from plastic bottles are more likely to have obese children. These are the findings of a new study conducted by The Endocrine Society based in Washington DC.
The scientists found that the chemical bisphenol A (BPA), a hormone disruptor, is linked to an unborn child’s increased risk of obesity. According to the study, when the child is exposed to BPA, they become less sensitive to a hormone responsible for controlling appetite. BPA is a chemical found in a variety of food containers, including polycarbonate plastic water bottles and can linings.
This chemical can interfere with the endocrine system (a collection of glands that produce several hormones) by mimicking estrogen, one of the main sex hormones found in women.
The research indicated that BPA exposure is nearly universal. More than 90 per cent of people tested in population studies had detectable levels of BPA, and compounds produced when it is metabolised by the body, in their urine. The study looked at baby mice. Researchers found that mice born to mothers exposed to BPA were less responsive to the hormone, leptin, which is sometimes called the satiety hormone.
Leptin, the “satiety hormone”, is a hormone made by adipose cells that helps to regulate energy balance by inhibiting hunger. Leptin is opposed by the actions of the hormone ghrelin, the “hunger hormone”. Leptin helps inhibit the appetite by reducing hunger pangs when the body does not need energy.
The hormone sends signals to the hypothalamus region of the brain to suppress appetite. Reacting to the development, Senior author, Dr. Alfonso Abizaid of the Department of Neuroscience at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, said: “Our findings show that bisphenol A can promote obesity in mice by altering the hypothalamic circuits in the brain that regulate feeding behaviour and energy balance.
“Low level prenatal exposure to BPA delays a surge of leptin after birth that allows mice to develop the proper response to the hormone. BPA exposure permanently alters the neurobiology in the affected mice, making them prone to obesity as adults.”
To examine how BPA can encourage the development of obesity, the researchers fed pregnant mice BPA in their food. The mice were exposed to doses of BPA that are lower than levels deemed safe by the United States, U.S Food and Drug Administration and Health Canada. Once the mice gave birth, the researchers gave their offspring injections of leptin at various intervals and then examined their brain tissue and analysed their blood to gauge the response to the hormone.