Retailers may shun food manufacturers who use BPA in packaging, but a new report finds the plastic component may be the last thing shoppers receive before they leave the store. Bisphenol A (BPA) was found in cash-register receipts of big national retailers in recent Environmental Working Group (EWG)-commissioned lab tests.
Whole Foods, Wal-mart and Safeway were among those whose receipts contained BPA. The receipts in the study came from major retailers, grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, fast-food restaurants, post offices and automatic teller machines (ATMs).
Two-fifths of the paper receipts were on heat-activated paper that was between 0.8-percent to 3-percent BPA by weight. EWG collected 36 receipts and commissioned the University of Missouri Division of Biological Sciences laboratory to investigate their BPA content. The Missouri scientists found the total mass of BPA on a receipt is 250 to 1,000 times greater than the amount of BPA typically found in a can of food or a can of baby formula, or that which leaches from a BPA-based plastic baby bottle into its contents.
In an effort to quantify how much BPA would transfer to a person’s hand, the laboratory performed wipe tests on four BPA-laden receipts. In all four cases, BPA transferred from the receipts to the wipes. An average of 2.4 percent of the receipts’ total BPA content wiped off, indicating the chemical would likely stick to the skin of anyone who handled them. However, scientists have not determined how much of a receipt's BPA coating can transfer to the skin and from there into the body.
The report from EWG pointed to a study published July 11, 2010 by Swiss scientists that found BPA transfers readily from receipts to skin and can penetrate the skin to such a depth that it cannot be washed off. Additionally, they noted BPA has also been shown to penetrate skin in laboratory studies.
The report offered concern with store employees who staff cash registers and handle BPA-laden receipts hundreds of times a day. They said retail workers carry an average of 30 percent more BPA in their bodies than other adults.
The EWG did note, however, that many retailers do not use BPA-laden thermal paper, so this particular route of exposure is easy to correct. Since 60 percent of the receipts EWG collected did not have significant levels of BPA, it is apparent that many retailers are using alternatives, they added. In addition, 11 of 13 U.S.-based retailers whose receipts EWG tested used non-BPA paper in at least one outlet.
In animal tests, scientists have produced evidence that BPA can induce abnormal reproductive system development, diminished intellectual capacity and behavioral abnormalities, and can set the stage for other serious conditions, such as reproductive system cancer, obesity, diabetes, early puberty, resistance to chemotherapy, asthma and cardiovascular system disorders. It has caused epigenetic changes, meaning alterations in the way genes switch off and on and genetic changes that can be passed on to the next generations.
EWG urged retailers to use BPA-free paper and to consider paperless options, such as emailed electronic receipts. Retailers should also make public the identity of any chemicals used in the alternative they select, they said.