## 4 Discussion
As for the effects on prolificacy, the obtained results suggest, as expected, that acute treatment of the progenitors, by itself, does not have a great influence on prolificacy, whereas chronic treatment during larval development can significantly, and not monotonically, affect the number of emerged adults. It was also observed that chronic exposure of successive generations caused transgenerational effects and an accumulated toxic effect. No significant alterations were observed in the development time of the individuals, which is interesting, since ecdysterone antagonists such as BPA should delay, or at least alter, this process. Another study was conducted by [PERSON] et al. [71] with the objective of evaluating the effect of BPA exposure on Drosophila fecundity. Although their results showed a decrease in the number of laid eggs for all the tested concentrations, the dose-response curve was also non-monotonic. In [PERSON]'s study, however, only the effects of acute exposure were assessed, and the possible transgenerational effects were not considered. Nevertheless, the comparison between both studies allows us to conclude that the exposure of individuals to BPA during larval development has harmful effects on their fecundity and the number of emerged adults in the offspring. [PERSON] and colleagues [72] also performed a study in which they evaluated the effect of BPA exposure during larval development on larval growth and early pupariation of \(D\). _melanogaster_. In that study, however, all tested concentrations caused early pupariation and, consequently, faster development of the flies. Other studies carried out in invertebrates have demonstrated that BPA was responsible for the induction of metamorphosis in _Capitella capitata_ larvae, and that exposure of ramshorn snails (_Marisa cornuarietis_) induced a hyperfeminization syndrome at all concentrations tested. [73; 74]  
Another of the evaluated parameters was the behaviour of the individuals. The use of _Drosophila_ as a model organism in behavioural studies has been growing in recent years, and it has already been used in several studies on neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease [75]. The results of this study showed no significant alterations in walking speed, although the distance travelled by the individuals varied non-monotonically. From the 1 mM concentration up, flies began to exhibit abnormal behaviour, with an increase in random and repetitive (cleaning) movements. Flies also maintained greater proximity to each other than was observed in the control, colliding several times. These results can be compared to the ones obtained by [PERSON] [76]. In that study, only the concentrations of 0.5 and 1 mM were used, but the result of the walking speed analysis was similar. However, in [PERSON]'s study, a decrease in the travelled distance at 1 mM, as well as a non-significant variation at 0.5 mM, were observed. As for social interaction, the results obtained by [PERSON] et al. [76] were, once again, similar to ours, with an increase in repetitive behaviour and alterations in the interaction between flies observed in both studies. [PERSON] and his colleagues suggested that these changes in individual and group behaviour may be related to the ones observed in diseases such as autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), highlighting the potential role of BPA in those diseases. In fact, several studies have already shown an association between BPA and modifications in the dopaminergic and NMDAergic systems, as well as the development of an ADHD phenotype in several model organisms, thus raising questions about its role in childhood human diseases [77; 78; 79]. Although epidemiological data for the human species are scarce, a study by [PERSON] found evidence that higher urinary BPA concentrations were associated with ADHD in U.S. children, and that these associations were stronger in boys than in girls [80].