BPA Found On Money, Receipts: Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families Study

Apparently consumers don't have as much control as they thought over avoiding products with bisphenol A (BPA), a hormone-disrupting chemical. What are two items that consumers cannot avoid? Dollar bills and receipts. And that's exactly where BPA is being found, according to a new study conducted by nonprofit groups Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families and the Washington Toxics Coalition.

The research found large amounts of unbound BPA on half of thermal paper receipts tested. The data suggests that the toxic chemical is easily transferred to our skin. And no, you can't just gingerly grab the receipt and toss it away really fast. In just ten seconds, 2.5 micrograms of BPA are transferred to your fingers.

As for dollar bills, BPA was found on 95 percent of the bills tested. BPA levels were much lower than those found on the receipts, but that doesn't help us rest any easier. Recent research has explored the connection between BPA exposure and various health problems like cancer, and Canada recently became the first country to officially list BPA as a toxic chemical.

Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families is pushing Congress to adopt a chemical policy with greater regulation of chemicals like BPA. Meanwhile, the Washington Toxics Coalition is offering a list of ways to avoid BPA exposure. Their tips include refusing a receipt, washing hands frequently, and choosing bottles that are not polycarbonate plastic.

Suddenly online shopping seems a bit more appealing this holiday season.

Comments

[Joffan]

05:43 PM on 12/13/2010

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, they say - in which case this article is very dangerous, because there's so little knowledge in it you could probably destroy New York with it.

The European Food Safety Authority have set (and recently re-affirmed) a Tolerable Daily Intake of 50 micrograms per kg body weight - for me, that's 3600 micrograms = 3.6 milligrams per day.
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/cef100930.htm
My advice: wash your hands after handling money. Not especially from the BP-a, just because it's generally dirty stuff.

[mairs]

09:15 PM on 12/12/2010

Oh great. I was just going through a stack of thermal paper credit card receipts for my business, and all of the purchases for my business on thermal paper.

[itsamadworld]

11:22 PM on 12/11/2010

So people like grocery store clerks really should be wearing gloves all the time since they handle more money and more receipts than just about practically anyone.

[Lance Manling]

05:45 PM on 12/11/2010

http://www.bisphenol-a.org/index.html

[twanger]

08:58 PM on 12/11/2010

Ah, an industry-sponsored website - can you say "vested interest?"

Who We Are:
This web site is sponsored by the Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group, which is organized regionally at the American Chemistry Council, PlasticsEurope, and the Japan Chemical Industry Association.

http://www.bisphenol-a.org/team.html

[Lance Manling]

08:50 PM on 12/12/2010

I suppose that you can blindly follow the environmentalist groups regardless of their claims (why would they lie, right?) instead of the horrible industry groups.

I prefer to look at both sides. Or is it best not to ask questions?

[stargazer13]

12:59 PM on 12/11/2010

well I will have to get tested !! I save every receipt !

and now I find that I am being poisoned by taking that little piece of paper as proof for the IRS

freaking unbelievable .

[intolleft]

07:37 AM on 12/11/2010

thru cross contamination, a majority of US bills have cocaine on them. We're all drug addicts now.

[Porky D]

03:29 AM on 12/11/2010

At last, a drawback to being rich.

[Tommygun264]

03:53 PM on 12/11/2010

The whole "it is easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven" has been a drawback for quite some time.

[Joffan]

07:11 PM on 12/13/2010

Ha ha, like rich people handle a lot of dollar bills.

[InCircles]

08:06 PM on 12/10/2010

Thank you for finding a silver lining to my complete and utter lack of cash.

[Nathaline]

01:26 PM on 12/10/2010

i heard many times people saying that money can be very dangerous. guess they're right!!

[angrymanspokane]

11:32 AM on 12/10/2010

I went to a strip club for a bachelor party once, and after having seen where a lot of those dollar bills go, well, let's just say I have looked at dollars a lot differently since then...

[WhatDaBleep]

11:22 AM on 12/10/2010

So does this mean that the 90% of money that is contaminated with cocaine is not a big deal anymore?

[WorkhelpWorkhelp]

08:46 PM on 12/11/2010

You need to be worried about Stripper goo.
uck..

[megasept]

09:28 AM on 12/10/2010

Anyone who worries about BPA on their greenbacks can send them to me for disposal.

[AveragePatriot]

08:46 AM on 12/10/2010

Wouldn't it be nice to have whoever is responsible for this type of stuff be exposed without the story getting suppressed in the media? More and more I've been getting the feeling that we're all just cattle in a big experiment funded by the ultra-rich. Not all of them, but there sure seems to be some group of people with unlimited resources that likes to watch the general population go down in a frenzy. Maybe finding out this type of stuff is what drives people to just start shooting everything they see... Or why people seem to just disappear sometimes... I try very hard to think that this type of stuff isn't real, but statements made by people who are deemed crazy seem to make more sense every day...

[LPH]

08:04 AM on 12/10/2010

"Data suggests" is incorrect. The word data is a plural of datum, therefore, the correct phrase is "data suggest."

[IamYourDrillThrall]

06:28 AM on 12/10/2010

I've always wondered about a society that uses hand sanitizer every five seconds, but handles paper that has passed thru millions of hands...