Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a structural component in many plastic products, which acts as an endocrine-disruptor, mimicking estrogen. This hormonal disruption has been linked to obesity, reproductive issues, cardiovascular problems, and neurodevelopmental disorders. Infants are at the highest risk of BPA exposure compared to any other stage of life. Because an infant’s endocrine system is developing, exposure to an endocrine-disruptor like BPA can be especially harmful. While the FDA monitors products like baby bottles, canned goods, and plastic containers for BPA, infant oral hygiene products are not closely monitored. Bisphenol-A fluoresces at an excitation wavelength of 278 nm and an emission wavelength of 304 nm. Previous research in our lab used fluorescence spectroscopy to test several brands of infant toothbrushes and found that many contain and leach BPA into their surroundings. Further research on the effects of temperature of the oral cavity and the pH of the saliva on the release of BPA from toothbrush samples showed an increased amount of BPA leaching from the toothbrushes when tested at the average body temperature, 37 °C. For this project, toothbrushes were tested by storing them at higher temperatures, 50 °C and higher, prior to testing for longer amounts of time (3-7 days) to resemble the conditions and times of shipment in semi-trucks. Toothbrushes were then placed in 1:1 methanol/water for several hours, aliquots were removed over time, and the amount of BPA leaching from the samples were monitored using an FS5 spectrofluorometer from Edinburgh Instruments.

Effects of shipment temperature and duration on the release of bisphenol-A from infant toothbrushes

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.