It would be hard to count the number of times you come into contact with BPA on a daily basis, as it's found in everything from cash register receipts to the lining of most canned foods and drinks. And according to new research from the University of Illinois at Chicago, all that BPA exposure could add up to prostate cancer in men.
The study, published online in the journal Endocrinology, shows that tiny doses of BPA can throw prostate development into a tailspin, setting the organ up for precancerous prostate epithelial neoplasia (or PIN) and prostate cancer.
Scientists used human stem cells from an organ donor to grow human prostate tissue, allowing it to mature to a PSA-producing state, and then transplanting it into host mice. They found that the human prostate tissue exposed to low-dose BPA (which was on par with the amount the average American is exposed to every day) during the crucial developmental phase significantly increased the risk of the human tissue to develop prostate cancer down the line.
"Exposure to BPA during early development appears to predispose the human prostate tissue to neoplasia and cancer with aging," explains study author Gail S. Prins, PhD, professor of urology and physiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
BPA is so problematic in the human body because it acts like a synthetic form of estrogen. "The prostate gland, as a reproductive organ in the male, is a direct target for estrogen action," Dr. Prins explains. "Estrogens can drive prostate diseases including prostate cancer. These facts have been known for decades." Simply put, BPA exposure produces an amplifier effect, setting into motion an increased sensitivity to rising estrogen levels later in life, which occurs in aging men, she says.
And the effect of BPA doesn't stop there. Dr. Prins says there's clear proof that as prostate cancer cells mutate, they can be directly stimulated by BPA, which enhances their growth and spread. "So I would caution men diagnosed with this disease to also make attempts to avoid contact with BPA," she says. That means avoiding receipts, not drinking or eating out of plastic containers, and avoiding canned foods.
More from Rodale News: 5 Weird Things BPA Is Doing To Your Body
Published January 2014, Prevention