Posted Monday, October 24, 2011 --- 7:00 a.m.
CHICAGO (AP) -- A study finds that exposure before birth to a widely used chemical could affect girls' behavior at age 3.
Bisphenol-A is found in some plastic bottles and coatings in metal food cans. It was widely used in plastic baby bottles and sippy cups but the industry phased out that use.
The study in the journal Pediatrics finds that preschool-aged girls whose mothers had relatively high urine levels of BPA during pregnancy scored worse than other young girls but still within a normal range on behavior measures. Those measures include anxiety and hyperactivity.
Boys don't seem to be affected.
The results are not conclusive and experts not involved in the study said factors other than BPA might explain the results. The researchers acknowledge that "considerable debate" remains about whether BPA is harmful, but say their findings should prompt additional research.
Copyright 2011. The Associated Press.
