Measurement of the estrogenic activity of migration products from plastic contact materials

Baby bottles in plastic are widely used to feed newborns and infants. The polymers used for the manufacture of baby bottles are mainly polypropylene (PP), silicone, polyamide (PA) and polyethersulphone (PES), since the ban of the use of bisphenol A (BPA), which exhibited estrogenic activity, in polycarbonate by European commission, in March 2011.
For the plastic substitutes, Chemical substances, such as monomers or additives (antioxidants, plasticizers, clarifiers, etc.), may migrate from plastic baby bottle into its contents. This monomers and additives may exhibit at low concentrations estrogenic activity (EA), who can produce adverse effects, especially in newborn and infants.
A recent study of Simoneau and al. give an overview of the amount of chemical substances which migrate from plastic baby bottle into its contents. The objective of this study is to measure EA of these substances.
The study focus first on screening Human estrogen receptor agonistic and antagonistic activities of pure compounds identifed by Simoneau and al. using a cell based transactivational assay named “Chemically Activated LUciferase gene eXpression” (CALUX).
Preliminary test with 3 Bisphenols (BPs) have been performed: BPA, Bisphenol S (BPS) and Bisphenol F (BPF). The dose–response curves obtained for BPA, BPS and BPF were compared with that of 17β-estradiol (E2). An agonistic effect was observed with the 3 BPs. BPS and BPF exhibited oestrogen-like response lower than that of BPA.