Have you ever stood around while CVS was printing out a THREE-MILE-LONG receipt, and thought, “Come on, you’re killing me”? Well now, that may be true, literally.
Health researchers say that thermal paper receipts often have high levels of a “forever chemical” called Bisphenol S, or “BPS.” It’s similar to BPA, which is in plastics. You have probably seen things labeled “BPA-free.”
The BPS in receipts is “hormone-disrupting.” And it, “mimics estrogen and can throw off the normal functioning of the body, including metabolism, growth and development, and reproduction.”
The chemical can be absorbed through skin when handling receipt paper. And supposedly, holding a BPS-laced receipt for just 10 SECONDS can have “serious health consequences.”
So is this a SERIOUS concern, or just a fleeting INTERNET concern?
That’s hard to say.
This is not a “new” discovery. Scientists have been researching the harmful effects of BPS for a while. In 2021, German researchers warned that it could “seriously damage” human brains after studying its effects on goldfish.
And it was known that BPS was in THERMAL paper receipts. That’s one of the reasons they are NOT RECYCLABLE. (That’s true. Now you know.)
It’s in the news now because the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) conducted a study recently, and found that many retailers are using thermal receipts with overly high levels of BPS.
They’re planning to sue retailers who continue to use these, without providing “clear warnings” on the receipts.
If you’re an employee who handles receipts, they suggest using gloves.
They’re also telling consumers to decline paper receipts whenever possible. (Many places are offering digital receipts these days. If you want, you can create a new email address for them.)
(Fox News)
