Which receipts have bpa

Bisphenol A BPA is an industrial chemical that is used in making polycarbonate, a type of plastic, and epoxy resins. The Canadian government declared BPA a toxic chemical in October , finding it "constitutes or may constitute a danger to human health and the environment" based on criteria set out in the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

The government made it illegal to manufacture, import, advertise or sell baby bottles with the chemical that same year. They say these coatings pose a risk to retail workers and consumers. Loblaw Companies Ltd. Polycarbonates are hard, clear plastics that have an almost glasslike finish. They have been used to make water bottles, baby bottles, kitchen appliance bowls and more. BPA also ends up on some kinds of paper.

John C. Warner is a chemist. While working at Polaroid Corporation in the s, he learned about the chemistry behind the papers now used for most receipts. These are known as thermal papers. To make some of them, manufacturers would coat a powdery layer of BPA onto one side of a piece of paper together with an invisible ink, Warner learned.

Warner thought little about such papers other than their design was clever. Until, that is, BPA exploded into the news in the early s. At that point, he says, he began to have some doubts.

Research had begun showing that BPA could mimic the action of estrogen. And some animal studies found that BPA might even raise the risk of cancer.

Studies showed that BPA can leach out of polycarbonate plastic. It also leaches out of can linings and into canned goods.

It even had been found in the saliva of children whose teeth had been treated with a BPA-based resin in hopes of limiting cavities. Cashiers are potentially exposed to much higher levels of BPA throughout a work shift than are consumers who would only occasionally handle BPA-containing receipt papers.

In one study , conducted by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, volunteers simulated work as a cashier by handling BPA-containing receipts throughout a work shift.

In the second study , conducted by the U. In each case, exposure to BPA remained well below accepted safe levels and similar to low background levels of BPA experienced by the general population.