Dry-cleaning chemical can increase risk of bipolar disorder: study
A new study has found early exposure to a chemical commonly used in dry-cleaning can increase the risk of developing bipolar disorder and post traumatic stress syndrome.
The study, published in the open access journal Environmental Health, examined the impact of the solvent - known as tetrachloroethylene or PCE - which leached into the water supply from vinyl-lined water pipes used in the Cape Cod area.
PCE and vinyl resin were used to attach liners to the water pipes. The pipes were dried for 48 hours before being shipped for use. It was thought that the PCE would evaporate before the pipes were installed. But that didn’t appear to be the case.
Quantities of PCE seem to have stayed on the liner and ended up leaching into the public water supply, said Ann Aschengrau, a professor and epidemiologist at Boston University School of Public Health who conducted the study.
Aschengrau and a team of researchers did a retrospective cohort study on 1,500 subjects, born between 1969 and 1983 in the Cape Cod area. They were traced through their current address and telephone number, credit bureau records, telephone books and the Internet.
Eight hundred and thirty-one of them were identified as being exposed to the solvent through drinking water either prenatally or in early childhood, Aschengrau said in an interview with the Star.
Is Bipolar Disorder Hereditary?
The facts are clear: genetics play a large part in a person’s susceptibility to developing bipolar disorder. Research shows that 75-80% of all bipolar victims have a family member that also suffers with some variety of the disorder. That does not necessarily mean that if you have a family member with bipolar disorder that you have an 80% greater risk of developing the same symptoms; but it does mean that you have an 80% chance of having the trigger that can turn on the disorder within your own brain and body.
Let me explain. The genetic link for bipolar disorder is not like the hereditary factors of other diseases, since bipolar seems to have (in many cases) some sort of environmental trigger, which actually turns on the disease. Should you be lucky enough to avoid these triggers, you could keep the disease at bay in your own life even if you carry the hereditary gene that causes it.
So, what are some of these environmental triggers that have been linked to bipolar disorder? Here are just a few of the most common to watch out for:
Alcohol and drug exposure while in utero
Phychosocial stressors like abuse, abandonment, etc.
Head trauma
Certain illnesses
Other stresses as a child ( a growing brain with the bipolar gene may react to certain stresses much more severely than a growing brain void of the bipolar gene).
Unusual sleep/wake cycling
Diet
Unknown environmental factors
Through data linked to their mothers’ addresses and the water distribution companies’ information on where the pipes were located, the researchers were able to find who had been exposed to the PCE-laden water.
They sent questionnaires to all the participants, asking about a variety of things, including mental illness. They were asked if a doctor or health-care provider ever said they had depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder.
In sifting through the data, the researchers found a high increased risk for bipolar disorder and post traumatic stress disorder.
“There was an 80 per cent increased risk for bipolar disorder in those who were exposed to PCE,” Aschengrau said.
10.6 percent of 388 kids who had at least one parent with one of the bipolar disorders also had one form of bipolar disorder or another compared to only .8 percent of 251 kids whose parents did not have the disorder.
29 percent of the 388 kids of those kids with both parents diagnosed also had the disorder.
52 percent of these children were diagnosed with some form of serious mental illness compared to only 29 percent of those whose parents did not have bipolar disorder.
These figures may seem scary even daunting if you have kids or you are considering pregnancy. However, “While your risk of having a child who develops a mental disorder is higher than if you or the child’s other parent didn’t have bipolar disorder, it isn’t a guarantee that this will happen. And of course, nothing says that having a child with a mental disorder - whether it appears in childhood or later in life - won’t still be a wonderful, fulfilling experience.”
“And there was a further increase risk in those who were highly exposed - a 170 per cent increase for bipolar disorder.”
There was also a 50 per cent increased risk for those who were exposed to the PCE for post traumatic stress disorder and it rose to 70 per cent amongst those who were highly exposed, she said.
The number of cases of schizophrenia was too small to draw reliable conclusions, the study said. Nor was the risk of depression associated with prenatal and childhood PCE exposure.
“Prior studies have found increases in risk of depression and anxiety and mood disorders among people who are occupationally exposed to PCE. I think it’s the first time it has been examined,” said Aschengrau.
More research needs to be done and her study corroborated, she said. The study was funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Research Program.
In the meantime, she said that people should be wary of PCE, which is considered a serious carcinogen and a “well recognized animal and human neurotoxicant.”
“If people are worried they need to find out what’s in their drinking water,” she added. “Contact drinking water suppliers and find out what the levels of PCE in the drinking water are.”
“It is impossible to calculate the exact amount of PCE these people were exposed to - levels of PCE were recorded as high as 1,550 times the currently recommended safe limit,” said Aschengrau. “ While the water companies flushed the pipes to address this problem, people are still being exposed to PCE in the dry cleaning and textile industries, and from consumer products, and so the potential for an increased risk of illness remains real.”
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