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Jenny L. Carwile,¹ Henry T. Luu,² Laura S. Bassett,² Daniel A. Driscoll,² Caterina Yuan,² Jennifer Y. Chang,² Xiaoyun Ye,³ Antonia M. Calafat,³ and Karin B. Michels^1,4

¹Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, and ²Harvard College, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; ³Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; ⁴Obstetrics and Gynecology Epidemiology Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts USA

Abstract
Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) is a high-production-volume chemical commonly used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastic. Low-level concentrations of BPA in animals and possibly in humans may cause endocrine disruption. Whether ingestion of food or beverages from polycarbonate containers increases BPA concentrations in humans has not been studied.

Objectives: We examined the association between use of polycarbonate beverage containers and urinary BPA concentrations in humans.

Methods: We conducted a nonrandomized intervention of 77 Harvard College students to compare urinary BPA concentrations collected after a washout phase of 1 week to those taken after an intervention week during which most cold beverages were consumed from polycarbonate drinking bottles. Paired t-tests were used to assess the difference in urinary BPA concentrations before and after polycarbonate bottle use.

Results: The geometric mean urinary BPA concentration at the end of the washout phase was 1.2 µg/g creatinine, increasing to 2.0 µg/g creatinine after 1 week of polycarbonate bottle use. Urinary BPA concentrations increased by 69% after use of polycarbonate bottles (p < 0.0001) . The association was stronger among participants who reported ≥ 90% compliance (77% increase ; p < 0.0001) than among those reporting < 90% compliance (55% increase ; p = 0.03) , but this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.54) .

Conclusions: One week of polycarbonate bottle use increased urinary BPA concentrations by two-thirds. Regular consumption of cold beverages from polycarbonate bottles is associated with a substantial increase in urinary BPA concentrations irrespective of exposure to BPA from other sources.

Key words: biomarkers, bisphenol A, endocrine disruptors, human, polycarbonate plastic. Environ Health Perspect 117:1368–1372 (2009) . doi:10.1289/ehp.0900604 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 12 May 2009]

Address correspondence to K.B. Michels, Obstetrics and Gynecology Epidemiology Center, 221 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02116 USA. Telephone: (617) 732-8496. Fax: (617) 732-4899. E-mail: kmichels@rics.bwh.harvard.edu

We thank A. Bishop and T. Jia for technical assistance in the urinary phenol measurements.

This project was supported by a Harvard University Center for the Environment faculty research grant to K.B.M. and by funds from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Biological Analysis Core, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health to K.B.M. J.L.C. was supported by the Training Program in Environmental Epidemiology under grant T32 ES07069.

The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The authors declare they have no competing financial interests.

Received 22 January 2009 ; accepted 12 May 2009.