Quercetin May Protect Against Bisphenol A Damage

An animal study with far-reaching implications for human health has demonstrated that the bioflavonoid quercetin can prevent damage to DNA and RNA following exposure to bisphenol A (BPA).  BPA is a contaminant that is widely found in the environment and our exposure to it is turning out to be a health nightmare.  It is typically found in elevated amounts in breast milk.  It is an estrogen-like endocrine disrupter.  Prenatal exposure often results in low birth weight babies.  Early exposure causes later asthma, behavior problems, and fertility issues just to mention the tip of the iceberg.  The fact that quercetin may offer some protection is the first good news on this topic, besides trying to reduce exposure.

It is difficult to avoid all BPA.  It is found in packaged food liners, lining the insides of food and beverage cans, and in hardened plastics (recycle code 3 and 7 may have BPA).  It is even lining plastic water pipes.  You can drastically reduce your blood levels of it by not eating any canned or packaged foods, which is very important if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. 

The above study is an animal study so there is no way to know a dose of quercetin that blocks BPA binding in humans.  However, we know quercetin can bind to estrogen receptors and help correct adverse estrogenic activity.  It can be reasoned that when quercetin binds to such receptors then BPA is not able to.  Thus, this study is not surprising.