Transient exposure to bisphenol F in early life affects the metabolic health of adults

Although bisphenol F (BPF) is widely used in plastic products, there are concerns about its potential health risks. Here, we aimed to understand the long-term effects of a brief BPF exposure during development. We treated zebrafish larvae 7 days post-fertilization with 1 mg/L BPF for 48 hours. We then maintained the animals under standard conditions for 5 months and compared them to control adults never exposed to BPF. In addition to sequencing the gut microbiome, we profiled six different tissues and serum by metabolomics and lipidomics. Strikingly, we found widespread alterations in metabolites and lipids throughout the animal that were both sex and tissue specific. For example, over 60 lipid species were depleted in the livers of BPF-treated females but no changes were observed in male livers. At the tissue level, BPF treatment altered fatty acid oxidation uniquely in skeletal and cardiac muscle. This study shows that transient exposures limited to the developmental phase of life can induce metabolic abnormalities later in adulthood. Our findings highlight the importance of profiling specimens from early life by exposomics and suggest that, even with the introduction of regulatory measures, the adverse effects of BPF could persist in the population for a generation.