New study: Why plastic chemicals give Swedish boys lower IQ

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Published 19 May 2021 at 11.24

Domestic. Swedish researchers have discovered that the plastic chemical bisphenol F can cause changes in a gene that is important for neurological development. The mechanism may explain why exposure to the substance during the fetal stage can be linked to lower IQ at the age of seven.

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Bisphenol

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– We have previously shown that bisphenol F, which is abbreviated BPF, can be associated with children's cognitive development. With this study, we can now begin to understand the biological mechanisms that explain such a connection, which is unique to an epidemiological study, says Carl Gustaf Bornehag, professor of public health science at Karlstad University and project manager for the SELMA study that is the basis for the study.

External factors can cause changes in gene activity via a mechanism called epigenetics. This can be done by modifying individual genes with so-called methylation. Increased methylation in a part of the DNA makes it more difficult for the cells' machinery to read that part, which means that methylated genes are often not expressed as well.

The researchers measured levels of bisphenol F in the urine of pregnant women and have continued to monitor children after birth. At the age of seven, DNA methylation was measured in the children and their cognitive ability was examined. Because the mother's blood comes into contact with the fetus via the placenta, the fetus is also exposed to the substances the mother has in the body.

Only in boys
The studies showed that fetuses exposed to higher levels of bisphenol F had an increased methylation in a specific part of the gene GRIN2B which is an important neurological gene. Higher methylation was also linked to lower IQ in children. But the study also found that there seems to be a gender difference in how sensitive children are to bisphenol F. The epigenetic link between bisphenol F and cognition was only observed in boys.

– That we have been able to identify DNA methylation as a possible mechanism behind bisphenol F's effect on IQ puts an important piece of the puzzle in the work of understanding how environmental chemicals affect us on a molecular level, says Elin Engdahl, researcher in environmental toxicology at Uppsala University and the article's lead author, in a mailing.

In their previous study, the research team found that the 25 percent of seven-year-olds exposed to the highest levels of bisphenol F during week 10 of pregnancy had an average of about two units lower IQ compared to the 25 percent of children exposed to the lowest levels. . There are small differences that are not noticeable on an individual child, but on the other hand become clear at the population level.