Exposure during pregnancy to Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical commonly found in plastics and consumer goods, is linked to behavioral and emotional problems in young girls, according to a recent study conducted, in part, by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Researchers, who collected data from the urine samples of 244 Cincinnati-based female participants and their children, found that  the mothers’ in utero exposure to BPA was associated with behavioral problems at 3 years of age for girls, but not for boys. Increasing levels of gestational BPA exposure were associated with hyperactive, aggressive, and anxious behavior in young girls, who also experienced poorer control of their emotions, according to lead author Joseph M. Braun, a research fellow at the Department of Environment Health at HSPH.

“It may be that BPA may actually be able to interfere with brain development in girls by some sort of sex-specific mechanism, but cannot interfere with boys’ development,” Braun said.

Braun said that a possible explanation for this link may be because BPA acts like estrogen.

“We know that sex steroids, such as estrogen and testosterone, are important for brain development,” Braun said. “We suspect that fluctuations in these hormones during pregnancy might impact the risk for behavioral disorders like ADHD or anxiety.”

Braun added that BPA can act on other systems of the brain, including the dopamine system, which is also linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety, as well as depression.

Over 95 percent of each an individual’s exposure comes through eating food that has come in contact with BPA, Braun said.

BPA is found in many consumer products, including canned food linings, polycarbonate plastics, and some thermal paper receipts found at ATMs or in grocery stores.

“We found previously that women who work as cashiers have higher BPA concentrations than other women,” Braun said.

Researchers suggested that anyone concerned can reduce their BPA exposure by avoiding canned and packaged foods, thermal paper sales receipts, and polycarbonate containers marked with the number 7 recycling symbol.

The study’s results were published today in an advance online edition of Pediatrics, a research journal.

Scientists are now looking at children of age 8 to 9 to study the relationships between depression, anxiety, hyperactivity, and aggression in relation to the BPA exposure both in utero and throughout childhood.