摘要：美国科学家新发表的一项研究成果显示，化工原料双酚A可能对健康有更多危害。
双酚A（BPA）也称为聚碳酸酯，用于饮料瓶、食品包装等多种塑料制品。它有类似激素的作用，会干扰人体内分泌和生殖系统。它对人体健康的影响究竟如何，目前还没有一致的结论。但是，由于担心双酚A对婴幼儿健康的损害，欧盟、加拿大、中国等国家和地区已禁止将双酚A用于婴儿奶瓶。
美国密苏里大学哥伦比亚分校的研究人员认为，受激素调控的特征可能对双酚A之类的内分泌干扰素特别敏感。为了检验这一假设，他们将怀孕的拉布拉多白足鼠分成三组，分别喂食富含双酚A的食物、富含合成雌激素——乙炔雌二醇的食物，以及不含上述物质的普通食物。这样的喂食一直持续到哺乳期结束，随后给断奶的幼鼠喂食普通食物，并观察它们的行为。
结果显示，用富含双酚A的食物喂养的怀孕雌鼠，其雄性后代看起来正常，体内雄性激素水平也正常，但空间导航能力较差，在设计实验中很难学会迅速通过迷宫的办法。据认为，空间导航能力对雄鼠在野外扩展领地和求偶非常重要。此外，幼年时曾接触双酚A的雄鼠，成年后相对不受雌鼠欢迎，择偶的成功率大约只有普通雄鼠的一半。
这一成果发表在6月27日出版的新一期美国《国家科学院院刊》（PNAS）上。研究人员表示，还不清楚双酚A对人体是否有类似的影响，但显然必须引起关注。
双酚A
生物探索推荐英文论文摘要：
Disruption of adult expression of sexually selected traits by developmental exposure to bisphenol A
Abstract
Exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), such as bisphenol A (BPA), may cause adverse health effects in wildlife and humans, but controversy remains as to what traits are most sensitive to EDCs and might serve as barometers of exposure. Expression of sexually selected traits that have evolved through intrasexual competition for mates and intersexual choice of mating partner are more dependent on developmental and physical condition of an animal than naturally selected traits and thus might be particularly vulnerable to disruption by developmental exposure to EDCs. We have used the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) as a model to test this hypothesis. Adult male–male competition for mates in this species is supported by enhanced spatial navigational and exploratory abilities, which enable males to search for prospective, widely dispersed females. Male deer mice exposed to BPA or ethinyl estradiol (EE) through maternal diet showed no changes in external phenotype, sensory development, or adult circulating concentrations of testosterone and corticosterone, but spatial learning abilities and exploratory behaviors were severely compromised compared with control males. Because these traits are not sexually selected in females, BPA exposure predictably had no effect, although EE-exposed females demonstrated enhanced spatial navigational abilities. Both BPA-exposed and control females preferred control males to BPA-exposed males. Our demonstration that developmental exposure to BPA compromises cognitive abilities and behaviors essential for males to reproduce successfully has broad implications for other species, including our own. Thus, sexually selected traits might provide useful biomarkers to assess risk of environmental contamination in animal and human populations.
