A chemical used as an alternative to Bisphenol A (BPA) may be just as harmful, according to new research.

Scientists at the University of Calgary looked at BPA and its alternative, bisphenol S (BPS), and found that both could cause alterations in brain development in zebrafish.

Zebrafish are often used by researchers studying embryonic brain development because the fish share 80 percent of the genes found in humans.

“What we show is that the zebrafish exposed to BPA or BPS were getting twice as many neurons born too soon and about half as many neurons born later, so that will lead to problems in how the neurons connect and form circuits,” stated Deborah Kurrasch, lead author and researcher in the university’s Cumming School of Medicine.

With this increase in neurons generated in their developing brains, the exposed fish exhibited greater hyperactivity later in life, the researchers, whose findings were published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found.

“I was actually very surprised at our results. This was a very, very, very low dose, so I didn’t think using a dose this low could have any effect,” Kurrasch stated.

University of Calgary researcher and study co-author Hamid Habibi stated, “Finding the mechanism linking low doses of BPA to adverse brain development and hyperactivity is almost like finding a smoking gun.