Forget Coloured Cups, The biggest BPA Source in Your Home Is…

For years now we’ve been told not to use plastic cups, water bottles, and to reduce our consumption of canned food because of the potential exposure to bisphenol A or BPA

A lot of research has been done into BPA and its effects on health, and this research is monitored by many governments around the world. 

Recently (2017), the European Member State Committee (MSC) identified BPA as a Substance Of Very High Concern “which cause probable serious effects to human health which give rise to an equivalent level of concern to carcinogenic, mutagenic, toxic to reproduction (CMRs category 1A or 1B) substances.”

BPA is a chemical that is used in the manufacture of some plastics and has been around for decades.  In addition to cups and bottles, resins that line the insides of canned food often contain BPA as well.  The major concern with BPA is that it leaches into food and water and then gets absorbed by the body.  Research into the effects of BPA has shown that among other things, it is an endocrine disruptor – it interferes with the body’s natural hormone activity which can result in several health problems.

Although many good articles have been written on BPA, it’s concerns, and where it lurks, few mention one of the most common sources in your home:  Sales Receipts.  Whenever you are given a receipt, there is a good chance that it is printed on thermal paper and that it has a large amount of BPA on it.

How might this wind up in your body?  If you handle the receipt and then wipe your eyes for example, the BPA has found a way into you.  How many receipts do you handle on a given day?  How many do you have stored up in your drawer for proof-of-purchase insurance, warranty claims, etc.?  How many times do you sift through the pile to look for a specific receipt?

And what about young children who may play with them, or put them in their mouths?

Food for thought anyway.

More information:

https://echa.europa.eu/-/msc-unanimously-agrees-that-bisphenol-a-is-an-endocrine-disruptor
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21605673
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-01/acs-ast011718.php
https://echa.europa.eu/-/msc-unanimously-agrees-that-bisphenol-a-is-an-endocrine-disruptor
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21605673
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-01/acs-ast011718.php

Peter Roperty

Peter has over 20 years experience as a writer. He typically concentrates on social and well-being issues.

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