Overview

Abstract (English)

Bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC), may pose a risk to human health, including diabetes. However, epidemiological studies from the U.S., China and South Korea showed inconsistent results. Objective To examine the associations between BPA and indicators of diabetes in the general Canadian population. Methods The analysis was based on cross-sectional data from the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) Cycle 2 (2009-2011). We included 1915 participants with glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) measurement and 2405 participants with serum glucose (SG) measurement aged 3-79 years, respectively. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to model HbA1c and log-transformed SG levels associated with quartiles of urinary BPA concentrations controlling for potential confounders. Further, in adults (age=>18 years), logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between BPA and physician-diagnosed diabetes mellitus (DM). Bootstrap weights were applied to all the analyses to account for the complex survey design. Results The geometric mean of urinary BPA was 1.21 (+/-0.05) ug/L. Overall, a positive association was observed between urinary BPA quartiles and HbA1c levels in men after controlling for potential confounders (P<0.05), but not in women and children. Similar patterns were found for the associations of BPA with log-transformed SG levels and doctor-diagnosed DM. Conclusions Higher urinary BPA levels were associated with adverse glucose homeostasis in Canadian men, independent of major covariates. Prospective studies with longitudinal design are needed to further investigate the causality.

Abstract (French)

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