A new mouse study reveals that daily low-dose exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) or its common replacement bisphenol S (BPS) — both found in plastics and food packaging — damages skeletal muscle in ways that mirror the dangerous combination of type 2 diabetes and sarcopenia. After 16 weeks, exposed male mice showed elevated blood sugar, reduced muscle glycogen, impaired insulin signaling, and significant muscle fiber damage. The researchers traced the harm to a failure of mitophagy — the cellular process that clears out damaged mitochondria — caused by suppression of the ERα/AMPK/ULK1 signaling pathway. The findings raise serious concerns about everyday plastic chemical exposure and its potential role in accelerating muscle aging and metabolic decline.
