Academic Study Finds Exposure to a Plastic Compound May Impact Maternal Behavior

Dr. Vandenberg

A new study led by Laura Vandenberg, an environmental health scientist at the University of Massachusetts, and Mary Catanese, a recent graduate of the doctoral program in neuroscience and behavior program at the university, finds that exposure to bisphenol S (BPS) may have a negative impact on maternal behavior. The compound, which is found in baby bottles and many cosmetics, replaced BPA in may products when that plastic compound was shown to have possible negative effects on health.

Researchers divided a group of pregnant mice into three groups. One was not exposed to BPS and the other two were exposed to one of two doses of BPS during pregnancy and lactation. They then monitored the nesting behavior of the female mice.

Dr. Catanese

The results show that mice exposed to BPS showed a lack of adjustment to the changing needs of their offspring. Female mice exposed to the lower dose of BPS had a higher instance of infanticide. And mothers exposed to BPS were slow to return their offspring to the nest when they were removed by researchers. In addition, the effects of BPS exposure were apparent in the daughters of exposed mice when they went on to have offspring of their own.

The study “Bisphenol S (BPS) Alters Maternal Behavior and Brain in Mice Exposed During Pregnancy/Lactation and Their Daughters,” has been published on the website of the journal Endocrinology. The article may be accessed here.