In a recent study, researchers found that benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), a chemical commonly used in the food-manufacturing process, may increase fat stores in the body.
The study was done by researchers from Texas A&M Health Science Center.
They used animal stem cells to identify changes to the epigenome of the stem cell line when exposed to the chemical BBP when compared to a control.
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells, capable of becoming different specialized cells.
They found that the cell lines exposed to increasingly higher levels of BBP showed higher levels of adipogenesis as much as five times higher, depending on the dose.
Adipogenesis is the process by which fat cells develop.
Because of this, the epigenetic changes observed in the animal stem cells could affect not just an adult exposed to BBP, but also a growing fetus.
BBP is part of a chemical family called phthalates, which are typically used to make plastics soft and malleable.
While BBP is used in many consumer products such as carpet and vinyl flooring, the primary human exposure comes from food consumption.
BBP is not used in food preparation, but it is used in the conveyor belts and plastic fittings on machines used to process many prepared foods.
Food becomes contaminated when BBP leeches into it from the plastic.
In the current study, the team notes that BBP is banned in all toys and childcare articles both manufactured in and imported into, the European Union (EU).
The EU has also banned BBP’s use in nail polish, as it is considered to be carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic to reproduction (CMR-substance).
While the United States has set limits on the amount of BBP permissible in certain consumer products, it has yet to take the same steps as the EU.
More than one-third of adult Americans are obese, and obesity-related illnesses, including type 2 diabetes, stroke, and heart disease, have risen exponentially along with climbing obesity rates.
This epidemic costs the United States health care system $190 billion annually, according to one estimate.
Epigenetics is the study of how the environment, including environmental chemicals, can alter gene expression without changing the genetic code.
Previous research has associated epigenetic changes with increasing rates of obesity and obesity-related illnesses.
In the near future, the researchers have several additional studies planned to study the effect of BBP on fat accumulation and the development of diabetes and obesity (diabesity).
One of which includes an epidemiological study tracking exposure and diabesity in humans.
The researchers suggest that phthalates have recently been associated with obesity.
But this was the first time scientists were able to show the mechanism by which BBP may cause fat accumulation and program the stem cell to become obese via an epigenetic balance.
These results are important, but they are just the first step in further study.
While the results were striking, the researchers note that more research is needed to confirm the finding in human.
The study is published in the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology.
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Source: Journal of Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology.
