March 26, 2023 – Most major retail chains still issue receipts that list potentially toxic chemicals that may easily transfer to people’s skin, a brand new study shows.
The findings, released by the advocacy group Ecology Center, showed that 80% of a sample of 374 receipts from 144 major retail chains contained bisphenols, also generally known as BPA or BPS. The chemicals are used to make polycarbonate plastics, that are utilized in all the things from dinnerware and beverage containers to toys and dental sealants. They are also key components of the receipts that come out of money registers across the country.
“Receipts are a common route of contact with hormone-disrupting bisphenols, which are easily absorbed through the skin,” said Melissa Cooper Sargent, an environmentalist on the Ecology Center, in a opinion“Switching to non-toxic paper is easy.”
Stores whose receipts contained the chemicals included Walmart, McDonald's, The Home Depot, U.S. post offices and a Carter's children's clothing store. List of shops was published by the Ecology Center.
Since the organization's last round of receipt analyses in 2017, the share of receipts testing positive for bisphenols has dropped from 93% to 80%. Receipts from the next retailers or restaurants tested freed from bisphenols: Costco, Culver's, CVS, H&M, Lululemon, REI, Starbucks, Target, Trader Joe's, TJ Maxx family of stores, and Whole Foods.
Walgreens recently announced plans to make use of receipt paper without the toxic chemicals by the top of 2023.
“Most developer chemicals are present in thermal paper at high concentrations of over 1% by weight,” the researchers explained of their report. “These chemicals are not strongly bound to the paper and are easily transferred to the skin. Moisturizers and hand sanitizers have been found to enhance absorption through the skin.”
Most persons are exposed to BPA to such an extent that a 2004 CDC study study Measurable concentrations were present in the urine samples of just about all people in a bunch of over 2,500.
While the CDC states that specific risks of BPA exposure to humans are unknown, laboratory studies in animals have shown reproductive effects. Mayo Clinic Studies have shown possible effects on the brains of fetuses, infants and kids, in addition to possible links with hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and child behavior.
BPA in food packaging is investigated and controlled by the FDA and is is considered safesays the agency. In 2012, the FDA banned using BPA within the manufacture of baby sippy cups.
The Ecology Center recommends refusing printed receipts each time possible and never giving them to children. Store employees can take precautions equivalent to wearing gloves when handling receipts. Both employees and customers should fold receipts in half to avoid touching the bisphenol-coated side of the paper.