Testing the Development of a Diet-Based Bisphenol a Score to Facilitate Studies on Child Neurodevelopment: A Pilot Project

Marisa A. Patti (), Apollo Kivumbi, Juliette Rando, Ashley Song, Lisa A. Croen, Rebecca J. Schmidt, Heather E. Volk and Kristen Lyall
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Marisa A. Patti: AJ Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Apollo Kivumbi: AJ Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Juliette Rando: AJ Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Ashley Song: Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Lisa A. Croen: Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Pleasanton, CA 94588, USA
Rebecca J. Schmidt: Department of Public Health Sciences, The MIND Institute, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95817, USA
Heather E. Volk: Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Kristen Lyall: AJ Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 8, 1-14

Abstract: While gestational Bisphenol A (BPA) exposure has been associated with autism, limited work has focused on dietary sources. Here, we sought to develop a summary metric to capture dietary exposure specifically and test its associations with measured levels, as well as child traits related to autism. Participants ( n = 116) were from the Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation (EARLI) Study, which recruited pregnant women who previously had a child diagnosed with autism. Maternal concentrations of BPA were quantified in urine, and dietary sources of BPA were ascertained via food frequency questionnaires during gestation. A novel BPA “dietary burden score” was developed based on reported intake of foods known to contribute to BPA exposure (i.e., canned foods) from a Dietary History Questionnaire modified for pregnancy. Child autism-related traits were assessed via the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2). We examined associations between BPA biomarkers, dietary burden scores, and child SRS scores. Dietary burden scores were weakly correlated with urinary BPA concentrations (R = 0.19, p = 0.05) but were not associated with child SRS scores. Our work suggests that more detailed dietary assessments may be needed to fully capture diet-based BPA exposures and address diet as a modifiable source of chemical exposure to reduce associated health impacts of BPA.

Keywords: Bisphenol A; endocrine disrupting chemicals; gestational diet; autism-related traits (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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