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Bisphenol F and Bisphenol S in a Complex Biomembrane: Comparison with Bisphenol A
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Researchers used molecular dynamics simulations to compare how bisphenol A, F, and S interact with complex biological membranes, finding that all three bisphenols accumulate at the membrane interface and similarly alter membrane biophysical properties, suggesting that BPF and BPS are not safe substitutes for BPA.
Bisphenols are a group of endocrine-disrupting chemicals used worldwide for the production of plastics and resins. Bisphenol A (BPA), the main bisphenol, exhibits many unwanted effects. BPA has, currently, been replaced with bisphenol F (BPF) and bisphenol S (BPS) in many applications in the hope that these molecules have a lesser effect on metabolism than BPA. Since bisphenols tend to partition into the lipid phase, their place of choice would be the cellular membrane. In this paper, I carried out molecular dynamics simulations to compare the localization and interactions of BPA, BPF, and BPS in a complex membrane. This study suggests that bisphenols tend to be placed at the membrane interface, they have no preferred orientation inside the membrane, they can be in the monomer or aggregated state, and they affect the biophysical properties of the membrane lipids. The properties of bisphenols can be attributed, at least in part, to their membranotropic effects and to the modulation of the biophysical membrane properties. The data support that both BPF and BPS, behaving in the same way in the membrane as BPA and with the same capacity to accumulate in the biological membrane, are not safe alternatives to BPA.
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This review examines the environmental and health threats posed by bisphenol A (BPA) and its replacements, bisphenol F and bisphenol S, which were introduced as safer alternatives. However, because these substitutes have similar chemical structures to BPA, they may pose comparable risks to human health and the environment, including hormone disruption. The study is relevant to microplastics research because bisphenols are common additives in plastics that can leach out as plastics break down into microparticles.
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