Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Long-term Behavioral and Reproductive Consequences of Embryonic Exposure to Low-dose Toxicants
Published on: March 6, 2018
Ubiquity of bisphenol A in the atmosphere
Pingqing Fu1, Kimitaka Kawamura
1Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0819, Japan. pqfu@pop.lowtem.hokudai.ac.jp
Abstract:
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a suspected endocrine disruptor in the environment. However, little is known about its distribution and transport in the atmosphere. Here, the concentrations of BPA in the atmospheric aerosols from urban, rural, marine, and the polar regions were measured using solvent extraction/derivatization and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry technique. The concentrations of BPA (1-17,400 pg m(-3)) ranged over 4 orders of magnitude in the world with a declining trend from the continent (except for the Antarctica) to remote sites. A positive correlation was found between BPA and 1,3,5-triphenylbenzene, a tracer for plastic burning, in urban regions, indicating that the open burning of plastics in domestic waste should be a significant emission source of atmospheric BPA. Our results suggest that the ubiquity of BPA in the atmosphere may raise a requirement for the evaluation of health effects of BPA in order to control its emission sources, for example, from plastic burning.
Related Concept Videos
Bioplastics
π Molecular Orbitals of 1,3-Butadiene
The simplest conjugated diene is 1,3-butadiene: a four-carbon system where each carbon is sp2-hybridized and has an unhybridized p orbital that contains an unpaired electron. According to molecular orbital theory, atomic orbitals combine to form molecular orbitals such that the number...
What are Biogeochemical Cycles?
Types of Toxins
Air pollutants, primarily gases, pose significant threats to respiratory health, leading to conditions like hypoxia, lung cancer, and in extreme cases, death.
Environmental pollutants like...
Microbial Bioremediation of Plastics
Structure of Benzene: Molecular Orbital Model

