Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) has been shown to affect brain and behavior in rodents and nonhuman primates, but there are few studies focusing on its relationship to human neurobehavior. We aimed to investigate the relationship between environmental exposure to BPA and childhood neurobehavior.
Methods: Urinary BPA concentrations and behavioral and learning characteristics were assessed in a general population of 1,089 children, aged 8-11 years. The main outcome measures were the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Learning Disability Evaluation Scale (LDES).
Results: Urinary levels of BPA were positively associated with the CBCL total problems score and negatively associated with the learning quotient from the LDES. The linear association with the CBCL anxiety/depression score and the quadratic association with the LDES listening score were significant after correction for multiple comparisons.
Conclusions: Environmental exposure to BPA might be associated with childhood behavioral and learning development. The results suggest possible nonmonotonic relationships.
Keywords: Bisphenol A; child behavior; child learning; nonmonotonic dose-response.
© 2013 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2013 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.