Could Drinking from BPA-Lined Cans Raise Blood Pressure?

Eating or drinking from cans or bottles lined with Bisphenol A (BPA) could raise blood pressure, according to a new study that appears in the journal Hypertension.

“The urinary BPA concentration after drinking two canned beverages was 16 times higher than that after drinking two glass-bottled beverages,” says study author Yun-Chul Hong, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine and director of the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Seoul National University College of Medicine in South Korea.
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“Consequent increase of BPA exposure actually increased blood pressure,” he says. “We found that drinking two canned beverages resulted in an increase of 5 mmHg in systolic blood pressure.”

The authors say this could cause a clinically significant increase in cardiovascular disease risk, considering that a 20 mmHg increase in systolic blood pressure doubles the risk of cardiovascular disease.

A chemical used in the production of polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins, BPA can be found in a wide range of products, including plastic bottles, food containers, and the inner lining of cans. Previous studies have shown that BPA can leach into foods and drinks, and its consumption has been associated with high blood pressure and heart rate variability.

In this randomized crossover trial, Hong and his colleague Sanghyuk Bae, MD, PhD, recruited 60 participants from a local community center (mostly Korean women over age 60). Each participant visited the study site three times and was randomly provided with soy milk in either a glass bottle or a can.

The researchers chose soy milk for the test because it has no known ingredient that elevates blood pressure. They later collected urine and tested for BPA concentration, blood pressure, and heart rate variability two hours after participants consumed each beverage.

“Because our results confirm the other observational studies for BPA exposure and elevation of blood pressure, clinicians and patients—particularly patients with hypertension or cardiovascular disease—should be aware of the potential clinical problems with blood pressure elevation when consuming canned food or beverages,” Hong says. “I hope manufacturers will develop and use healthy alternatives to BPA for the inner linings of canned containers in the future.”

He emphasizes that because they evaluated changes in blood pressure just 2 hours after beverage consumption, their study only shows the acute effects of BPA exposure on blood pressure.

“Further study with larger sample size and study design, which can account for a longer timeframe, is needed to elucidate the chronic effect of exposure to BPA on blood pressure,” he says.

—Colleen Mullarkey

Reference

Bae S, Hong Y. Exposure to Bisphenol A from drinking canned beverage increases blood pressure: a randomized crossover trial. Hypertension. 8 Dec 2014. [Epub ahead of print].