Several studies have implicated estrogen, the primary female sex hormone, in fostering a serious autoimmune disease called lupus. That’s why scientists had expected that bisphenol-A (BPA), an estrogen-mimicking ingredient of polycarbonate plastics and dental sealants, might also abet lupus. A Minnesota group’s rodent data now show just the opposite.
In laboratory animals, BPA can not only impair reproductive development but also cause female mice to produce eggs bearing abnormal numbers of chromosomes (SN: 4/5/03, p.