Exposure to a common component of plastics, Bisphenol A (BPA), during pregnancy, can causes permanent abnormalities in the uterus of offspring, boffins at Yale School of Medicine have discovered.

The study is the first to show that BPA exposure permanently affects sensitivity to estrogen and was led by Hugh S. Taylor, M. D., professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale.

Taylor and his team used two groups of mice, one exposed to BPA as a fetus during pregnancy and another exposed to a placebo. Gene expression and the amount of DNA modification in the uterus was examined by them. It was found that the mice exposed to BPA as a fetus had an exaggerated response to estrogens as adults, long after the exposure to BPA. The genes were permanently programmed to respond excessively to estrogen.

Taylor said," The DNA in the uterus was modified by loss of methyl groups so that it responded abnormally in adulthood. The gene expression was permanently epigenetically altered and the uterus became hyper-responsive to estrogens."

Adding further that exposure to BPA as a fetus is carried throughout adulthood, Taylor said," What our mothers were exposed to in pregnancy may influence the rest of our lives. We need to better identify the effect of environmental contaminants on not just crude measures such as birth defects, but also their effect in causing more subtle developmental errors." (With Inputs from Agencies)