BPA Substitute Linked to Hyperactivity

A new study from the University of Calgary found that although chemical Bisphenol S (BPS) is often used as a presumably safer replacement for Bisphenol A (BPA) in household plastics and epoxy resins, both can cause alterations in brain development that can lead to hyperactivity in zebrafish. Around 80 percent of the genes found in humans have a counterpart in zebrafish, which is why researchers use the fish to study embryonic brain development. Exposure to both BPS and BPA altered the timing with which neurons were formed in the fish’s brains, affecting the number of neurons. Later in life, this amounted to greater hyperactivity for the fish.