BPA linked to asthma in school-age girls, study finds

Exposure in the womb to bisphenol A, commonly known as BPA, may increase the risk of asthma among school-age girls, according to a new study of over 3,000 pairs of mothers and children from six European countries.

"We believe that the effect may be due to the fact that bisphenols can cross the placental barrier and interfere with the child's respiratory and immune systems during the developmental phase," said first author Alicia Abellán, a postdoctoral researcher at Barcelona Institute for Global Health, in a statement.

There was a significant association between levels of BPA in mothers' urine and asthma and wheezing for girls, but not boys, according to the the study published Friday in the journal Environment International.

There could be several possible explanations for that finding, said study author Dr. Leonardo Trasande, director of environmental pediatrics at NYU Langone Health.

"BPA is a synthetic estrogen, and sex hormones shape nearly every bodily function during fetal development," Trasande told CNN.