Receipts Made From Thermal Paper Potentially A Significant Source Of BPA

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Thermal paper, which is sometimes used to print out cash register receipts, could potentially be a significant source of exposure to the hormone disruptor bisphenol-A (BPA), a substance which has been linked to diseases such as obesity and diabetes, researchers from the University of Missouri (MU) report in a new study.
Researchers from the Columbia, Missouri-based university and their colleagues report in Wednesday’s edition of the journal PLOS ONE that when men and women handled a thermal receipt after using a hand sanitizer, a large amount of BPA transferred from the paper to the person’s hand, thus resulting in a rapid increase in blood levels of the synthetic compound.
“BPA first was developed by a biochemist and tested as an artificial estrogen supplement,” Frederick vom Saal, Curators Professor of Biological Sciences in the College of Arts and Science at MU and one of the paper’s authors, explained in a statement. “As an endocrine disrupting chemical, BPA has been demonstrated to alter signaling mechanisms involving estrogen and other hormones.”
“Store and fast food receipts, airline tickets, ATM receipts and other thermal papers all use massive amounts of BPA on the surface of the paper as a print developer,” he added. “The problem is, we as consumers have hand sanitizers, hand creams, soaps and sunscreens on our hands that drastically alter the absorption rate of the BPA found on these receipts.”
BPA, the researchers explain, is used in a wide variety of products, including water bottles, sports equipment and even CDs and DVDs. It is also typically found in most people’s urine, which suggests that the average individual experiences widespread exposure to the substance from multiple sources during an average day.
During their study, vom Saal and his fellow investigators tested people who cleaned their hands using hand sanitizer, held thermal paper receipts, and then consumed French fries with their hands. They discovered that the BPA was rapidly absorbed into the blood stream, and that the compound was absorbed more quickly by women than men.
According to the study authors, the outer layer of thermal receipt paper is covered with either BPA or another estrogen-mimicking chemical known as bisphenol S (BPS), which acts as a print developer. Thermal paper is typically used in airline tickets, store receipts, ATM receipts and fast food receipts – meaning that BPA contamination of food from fingers and hands is likely, and that cashiers could also be exposed to the substance continually.
“Our research found that large amounts of BPA can be transferred to your hands and then to the food you hold and eat as well as be absorbed through your skin,” vom Saal said. “BPA exhibits hormone-like properties and has been proven to cause reproductive defects in fetuses, infants, children and adults as well as cancer, metabolic and immune problems in rodents.”
“BPA from thermal papers will be absorbed into your blood rapidly; at those levels, many diseases such as diabetes and disorders such as obesity increase as well. Use of BPA or other similar chemicals that are being used to replace BPA in thermal paper pose a threat to human health,” he added.
This isn’t the first time that BPA has been linked to cash register receipts made from thermal paper, as a 2010 study from the non-profit organizations Chemicals, Safer Families and the Washington Toxics Coalition tested both receipts and paper money and found high levels of the chemical, which has been linked to cancer, obesity and early puberty.
That study found that holding register receipts for just 10 seconds caused up to 2.5 micrograms of BPA to transfer from the paper onto a person’s fingers, and that rubbing the receipts increased the amount of BPA transferred from receipts onto fingers by around 15-fold. As for the dollar bills, BPA was found on 21 of the 22 those analyzed, but the researchers said that the levels were far lower than those discovered on the receipts.
An October 2012 study showed that BPA can also cause pregnant women and their newborn boys to suffer from reduced levels of thyroid hormones, and that an imbalance in thyroid hormone levels has been linked to negative changes in cognitive abilities, behavior and growth.
The following year, new research revealed that products laced with the compound could increase a pregnant woman’s risk of having a miscarriage by as much as 80 percent.
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