AMHERST — In the first study of its kind, UMass researchers have found hints that a popular plastic compound found in food containers may have biological effects.
This could have implications for human health.
Environmental health scientist Laura Vandenberg and neuroscientist Mary Catanese examined the effects of the compound bisphenol S (BPS) on maternal behavior and related brain regions in mice. They found subtle but striking behavior changes in nesting mothers exposed during pregnancy and lactation and in their daughters exposed in utero.
BPS, found in baby bottles, personal care products and other places, is a replacement chemical for BPA and was introduced when concern was raised about possible health effects of that plastic compound. Though studies have found human BPS exposure is likely low, it is widespread and has increased over the past 10 years, the authors note. As with BPA, there is evidence that BPS is an endocrine disruptor.
Vandenberg and Catanese, a recent graduate of UMass Amherst’s neuroscience and behavior graduate program, report, “BPS affects maternal behavior as well as maternally relevant neural correlates.” Their results suggest that maternal care of pups, including mothers’ ability to adjust to the needs of their young during early development, was impaired after BPS exposure “with differing effects based on dose, postpartum period and generational timing of exposure.”
They note effects including “a surprising increased incidence of infanticide” in one treated group and poor maternal care, for example. Details appear in the current issue of Endocrinology.
Further, the researchers examined effects of BPS exposure in a brain region sensitive to estrogen or estrogen-mimicking chemicals that is also believed to be important in maternal behavior in mice.
The authors found a surprising increased incidence of infanticide among mouse mothers exposed to the lower dose in utero. Vandenberg and Catanese report that “although these same effects were not seen at the higher dose, more than 10 percent of females exposed to 2 microgram BPS/kg/day either killed their pups or provided such poor instrumental maternal care that one or more pups needed to be euthanized. While not statistically significant, the neglect and poor maternal care we observed were striking.”
In addition to the link to infanticide, they also found BPS-induced effects on important aspects of maternal care in both exposed mothers and their daughters. They report that females exposed to the higher dose of BPS during pregnancy and lactation spent significantly more time on the nest than controls at one observation point, an unexpected finding given that mouse mothers usually spend less time on the nest as pups grow and develop. The researchers suggest that the mother’s BPS exposure “may indicate a lack of adjustment” to the changing needs of her pups.
BPS-exposed mothers also showed significantly shorter latency to retrieve their first pup and significantly shorter latency to retrieve their entire litter on one of the three observation days, which may not represent improved care but instead “may indicate hyperactivity, compulsivity-like behavior, heightened stress response to scattered pups, or a displaced form of retrieval.”
Overall, Vandenberg and Catanese write that “uncovering effects of environmental chemicals that might influence proper maternal care have broad social and public health implications” because from an evolutionary perspective, maternal behavior is related to survival of offspring.