Risk Analysis, Vol. 30, No. 3, 2010 DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.2009.01345.x Bisphenol A: How the Most Relevant Exposure Sources Contribute to Total Consumer Exposure Natalie von Goetz, 1, * Matthias Wormuth, 2 Martin Scheringer, 1 and Konrad Hungerb ¨ uhler 1 Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disrupting chemical that is found in human urine through- out industrial societies around the globe. Consumer exposure pathways to BPA include pack- aged food, household dust, air, and dental fillings. To date, information on the relative con- tribution of the different pathways to total consumer exposure is lacking, but is key for man- aging substance-associated risks. We investigated the relative contributions of the pathways known to be most relevant for nine different consumer groups. Our results suggest that the most important pathways for infants and children are the use of polycarbonate (PC) baby bottles and for adults and teenagers the consumption of canned food. Dental surgery can also considerably contribute over a short time directly after the surgery. For infants fed with PC baby bottles with mean dose rates of 0.8 μg/kg bw /d the highest exposure dose rate was calculated. This dose rate is far below the tolerable daily intake of 50 μg/kg bw /d. However, it is of the same order of magnitude as recently reported concentrations that caused low-dose health effects in rodents. We find a pattern of falling exposure levels with rising age that is supported by urinary concentrations of BPA available for selected con- sumer groups. Similarly, the exposure levels we predict are confirmed by the levels reported in these studies. KEY WORDS: Bisphenol A; consumer exposure; polycarbonate baby bottles; risk management; total exposure 1. INTRODUCTION Bisphenol A (BPA) is a broadly used industrial chemical. With over 2 million tons produced globally in 2003 (1) it is considered a high production volume chemical. It is used in many products meant for con- sumer use: as the monomer for polycarbonate (PC) it is present in cookware and drinking bottles, and as a component of epoxy resins it is used in coatings for 1 Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. 2 Harlan Laboratories Ltd., Itingen, Switzerland. ∗ Address correspondence to Natalie von Goetz, Wolfgang-Pauli- Str. 10, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland; tel: +41 44 632 09 75; fax: +41 44 632 11 89; natalie.von.goetz@chem.ethz.ch. food cans. Additional applications include uses for dental surgery and medical equipment. (2) Studies have shown that BPA migrates from con- sumer goods into food items. (3−5) Recently, BPA has been detected in canned food, (6) food simulant prepared in PC baby bottles, (3,7) and drinking wa- ter. (8) In combination with low-dose adverse health effects of BPA reported in mice, (2) in monkeys, (9) and in humans, (10) this raises concern about con- sumer safety. Furthermore, BPA has been classified as an endocrine disrupting chemical. Adverse effects to the fetus are suspected to be associated with expo- sure of pregnant women in a specific developmental window. (11) In general, humans in their developmen- tal stages (fetus, infant, child) seem to be affected more severely than adults. 473 0272-4332/10/0100-0473$22.00/1 C  2010 Society for Risk Analysis