Selective removal of bisphenol A from serum using molecular imprinted polymer membranes

Bisphenol A (BPA)-imprinted membranes were prepared by hybridization of a porous polysulfone (PSu) scaffold with a BPA-imprinted polymer powder copolymerized with dimethacrylate BPA and divinylbenzene. When exposed to a donor calf serum (DCS) solution containing 0.05-100 microM of BPA, the imprinted hybrid membrane (10 x 10 mm(2)) bound BPA at a capacity of 6.0 x 10(-9)-20 x 10(-6) mol/g-membrane. In contrast, a similar sized powder-free PSu membrane bound BPA at a capacity of only 1.5 x 10(-9)-1.9 x 10(-6) mol/g-membrane. The difference in the binding capacities of the two membranes was attributed to the BPA-imprinted powder hybridized in the PSu membrane. Clinical analyses confirmed that the DCS parameters remained nearly constant before and after the BPA binding. This observation suggests that BPA was removed selectively from the DCS solution by the imprinted hybrid membrane. Together, these results demonstrate that the molecular imprinting technique is very useful as a novel medical material adsorbent that can reduce exposure to the endocrine disruptor, BPA.