St. Kitts Biomedical Research Foundation
Study Shows that a Chemical in Common Plastics Impairs Brain Function

~~Adz:Left~~ Lower Bourryeau Estate, St. Kitts-Yale University researchers, working at the Foundation in St. Kitts, have found that the chemical bisphenol-A (BPA), a building block for common household plastics, causes the loss of connections between brain cells.  These diminished connections in the brain's "synapses" may cause memory and learning impairments and depression, according to the results published in the September 16th issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA). 

Unlike previous studies that looked at the effect of BPA on rodents, the team examined the effects in a large number of monkeys studied at the Primate Research Facility of St. Kitts Biomedical.  The study, led by long-time researcher at St. Kitts Biomedical, Dr. Csaba Leranth, administered only the tiny amount of BPA that is considered by the US Environmental Protection Agency to be safe for human consumption.  Nerve connections in key brain areas were counted using an electron microscope.   Leranth said that although daily exposure of an average person to BPA usually does not reach the level that was applied in the study, human exposure is not limited to a single month, but rather extends over a lifetime and often begins with babies who are fed using plastic drinking bottles.

Millions of metric tons of BPA are manufactured globally each year, and there has been debate about its toxicity since the 1930's.  For this reason, the new study has received hundreds of citations in the press world-wide including articles and editorials in The Washington Post and The New York Times. 

Dr. Leranth thanked the staff at St. Kitts Biomedical for their expert assistance and participation in the project.  He also indicated that because of the huge commercial impact of the use of BPA, more studies in developing and adult monkeys would be necessary to determine if there is any dose that would not produce the brain damage.  Dr. Eugene Redmond, President of St. Kitts Biomedical, noted that this is a type of study, with world-wide impact, that could be done in only a very few other research facilities in the world.