This BPA substitute could be linked to hyperactivity
A new study at the University of Calgary in Canada found that Bisphenol S (BPS), a common substitute for BPA in household plastics, could still be harmful to your health.
The researchers found that BPS led to alterations in the brain development of zebrafish. Those alterations could eventually lead to hyperactivity. Both BPA and BPS changed the timing of the fish's brains' neuron formation, which increased their brains' neuron count and later produced hyperactivity in the fish.
Dr. Deborah Kurrash, a researcher at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine and an author of the study, told The Globe and Mail that she was "very surprised" at the study's results, because the researchers used such low BPS and BPA doses on the fish.
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While humans weren't tested in the study, 80 percent of human genes have zebrafish counterparts, so the study could have serious implications for human brain development, too.
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Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
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