BPA may increase blood pressure study finds

A Korean study, recently published in the American Heart Association Journal, has claimed that drinking beverages from cans increases blood pressure due to the BPA content.
The study was conducted by way of a randomised crossover trial with non-institutionalised adults, who were aged 60 years and over, and recruited from a local community centre.

‘A total of 60 participants visited the study site three times, and they were provided the same beverage in two glass bottles, two cans, or one can and one glass bottle at a time’, the study says. ‘The sequence of the beverage was randomised. We then measured urinary BPA concentration, blood pressure, and heart rate variability two hours after the consumption of each beverage. The paired t test and mixed model were used to compare the differences. The urinary BPA concentration increased after consuming canned beverages by >1600% compared with that after consuming glass bottled beverages. Systolic blood pressure adjusted for daily variance increased by ≈4.5 mm Hg after consuming two canned beverages compared with that after consuming two glass bottled beverages, and the difference was statistically significant. The parameters of the heart rate variability did not show statistically significant differences. The present study demonstrated that consuming canned beverage and consequent increase of BPA exposure increase blood pressure acutely’.

Earlier this year, the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) had deemed BPA levels to be safe in canned food and beverages and this new study may lead to further investigation with regard to its guidelines.

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