Background bisphenol A in experimental materials and its implication to low-dose in vitro study

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Toxicology
• Cell Biology

Background:

• In vitro low-dose studies are crucial for understanding bisphenol A (BPA) mechanisms.
• Existing studies report wide variations in BPA doses, with some as low as 10(-15)M.
• Analytical verification of BPA doses and background levels in experimental materials is often overlooked.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate background bisphenol A (BPA) levels in materials commonly used for in vitro low-dose studies.
• To determine the extent of BPA contamination in disposable labware and cell culture media.
• To provide recommendations for accurate low-dose BPA research.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of background BPA levels in disposable pipettes, pipette tips, buffer solutions, and cell culture media.
• Quantification of BPA using analytical methods to determine concentrations in ng mL(-1) and nM.
• Comparison of BPA levels across different commercial sources of materials.

Main Results:

• Background BPA levels in pipettes and pipette tips were low (<0.20 ng mL(-1) or 0.88 nM).
• BPA was detected in buffer solutions near the limit of quantification (0.02 ng mL(-1); 0.088 nM).
• All tested cell culture media exhibited BPA contamination, ranging from 0.080 to 4.26 ng mL(-1) (0.35 to 19 nM), with an average of 0.83 ng mL(-1) (3.5 nM).

Conclusions:

• Cell culture media represent a significant source of background BPA in in vitro studies.
• It is recommended to analyze culture media for BPA levels before conducting low-dose BPA experiments.
• Selecting media with the lowest background BPA is essential for the validity of in vitro low-dose bisphenol A research.