Potentially harmful chemical found in paper receipts

[Bravo Zulu]

Thursday, July 29, 2010
By Lyndsey Layton, The Washington Post

WASHINGTON -- As lawmakers and health experts wrestle over whether a controversial chemical, bisphenol-A, should be banned from food and beverage containers, a new analysis by an environmental group suggests that Americans are being exposed to BPA through another, surprising route: paper receipts.

The Environmental Working Group found BPA on 40 percent of the receipts it collected from supermarkets, automated teller machines, gas stations and chain stores. In some cases, the total amount of BPA on the receipt was 1,000 times the amount found in the epoxy lining of a can of food, another controversial use of the chemical.

Sonya Lunder, a senior analyst with the environmental group, says BPA's prevalence on receipts could help explain why the chemical can be detected in the urine of an estimated 93 percent of Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"We've come across potentially major sources of BPA right here in our daily lives," Ms. Lunder said. "When you're carrying around a receipt in your wallet for months while you intend to return something, you could be shedding BPA into your home, into your environment. If you throw a receipt into a bag of food, and it's lying there against an apple, or you shove a receipt into your bag next to a baby pacifier, you could be getting all kinds of exposure and not realize it."

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10210/1076078-114.stm#ixzz0v2zcbDKC

[willing dwarf]

1. Alas, I couldn't get your link to work

But I googled it and came up with a link to the original Washington Post version. I'll try to include it here, but it looks like it won't "take." www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/26/AR2010072605001.html?nav=emailpage

So, what do we do-- not take receipts?

[KT2000]

2. The article said that

Appleton Co. quit using paper with BPA in 2006 because of their concerns. There really ought to be a way of rewarding businesses that are considerate of health issues like this.
I feel like buying a gross of their receipt papers!

[Warren DeMontague]

3. Well, that's just great. Hmmm. I wonder if it has something to do with the heat printing properties

of the receipts?

I know in plastics it's used to make them rigid and clear, ergo it's those plastics (like in baby bottles) you really need to watch out for.

Shit, my wallet is a BPA nightmare, then.

[gateley]

4. Is there a way to determine if a plastic item (like a storage container) contains

BPA?

Time to don latex gloves, go out in the front yard, and clean out our wallets!

[Warren DeMontague]

5. I don't worry so much about it for myself.

But I sure as hell try to keep it away from the kids.