BPA on the receipts you handle

[glatt]

Remember a year or two ago when there was the scandal about all the BPA in plastic water bottles made by Nalgene and in can linings made by numerous companies? Those products were removed from some stores' shelves nationwide, and many bottle companies reformulated their plastic recipes to get rid of the BPA in the bottles.

Turns out there is an even greater source of BPA that we all come into contact with frequently. Sales receipts. Especial those printed on that thin shiny thermal paper.

In a recent sampling of receipts from around the country, a consumer group tested 36 receipts. Of that sample group, 29 were contaminated with BPA at very high levels. That's roughly 80% that are contaminated.

You can't tell by looking at them, which receipts are contaminated or not.

Safeway was the worst, with a receipt that was 2.8% BPA by mass and 20.7 milligrams total. To put this in perspective:

The receipt for a McDonald's Happy Meal™ purchased in Clinton, Conn. on April 21, 2010 had an estimated 13 milligrams of BPA. That equals the amount of BPA in 126 cans of Chef Boyardee Overstuffed Beef Ravioli in Hearty Tomato & Meat Sauce, one of the products with the highest concentrations of BPA in EWG's 2007 tests of canned foods (EWG 2007).

It's kind of freaky that there is such a ubiquitous source of this toxin. Sales receipts! And it explains why studies have shown that adults who work in retail have 30% more BPA in their bodies than other adults.

Suggestions for limiting your exposure to BPA on receipts include:

* Minimize receipt collection by declining receipts at gas pumps, ATMs and other machines when possible.
* Store receipts separately in an envelope in a wallet or purse.
* Never give a child a receipt to hold or play with.
* After handling a receipt, wash hands before preparing and eating food (a universally recommended practice even for those who have not handled receipts).
* Do not use alcohol-based hand cleaners after handling receipts. A recent study showed that these products can increase the skin's BPA absorption (Biedermann 2010).
* Take advantage of store services that email or archive paperless purchase records.
* Do not recycle receipts and other thermal paper. BPA residues from receipts will contaminate recycled paper.
* If you are unsure, check whether paper is thermally treated by rubbing it with a coin. Thermal paper discolors with the friction; conventional paper does not.

I've frequently held receipts in my teeth to free up my hands as I put the cash change away into my wallet. Guess I won't be doing that any more.