LONDON: Exposure to a chemical found in plastic containers has been linked to heart disease, scientists said yesterday, confirming earlier findings and adding to pressure to ban its use in bottles and food packaging.

British and American researchers studied the effects of the chemical hisphenol A using data from a United States government national nutrition survey in 2006 and found that high levels of it in urine samples were associated with heart disease.

Bisphenol A, known as BPA is widely used in plastics and has been a growing concern for scientists in countries such as Britain, Canada and the US, where food and drug regulators are examining its safety.

Dr David Melzer, professor of epidemiology and public health at the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, England, who led the study, said the researcher confirmed earlier findings of a link between BPA and heart problems.

The analysis also confirmed that BPA plays a role in diabetes and some forms of liver disease, said Dr Melzer's team who studied data on 1,493 people aged 18 to 74.

"Our latest analysis largely confirms the first analysis, and excludes the possibility that the original report was a statistical blip," it said in a statement.

BPA, which is also used to stiffen plastic bottles and line cans, belongs to a broad class of compounds called endocrine disrupters.

The US Endocrine Society called last June for better studies into BPA and presented research showing the chemical can affect the hearts of women and permanently damage the DNA of mice.

US environmental health advocacy groups are urging a federal ban on BPA.

"There's enough research to take definitive action on this chemical to reduce exposures in people and the environment," said Dr Anila Jacob of the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit organisation.

Canada's government plans to outlaw plastic baby bottles made with BPA. The charity Breast Cancer UK last month urged the British government to do the same because they said there was compelling evidence linking the chemical to breast cancer risk.

Experts estimate BPA is detectable in the bodies - of more than 90 per cent of the population in the US and Europe. It is one of the world's highest production volume chemicals, with more than 2.2 million tonnes produced annually.

US government toxicologists at the National Institutes of Health concluded in 2008 that BPA presents concern for harmful effects on development of the prostate and brain and for behavioural changes in foetuses infants and children.