Study: Handling Receipts Exposes Retail Workers To Toxins
Feb. 25, 2019
Retail workers in Canada are exposed to worrisome levels of cancer-linked chemicals by handling thermal paper receipts.
A simple act by retail workers – handing receipts over to their customers – may pose unexpected risk. The results of a new experiment by Environmental Defense Canada (EDC) suggests that retail workers across Canada are being exposed to worrisome levels of cancer-linked chemicals BPA and BPS by simply handling thermal paper receipts, according to an article from CTV News.
As part of the EDC study, four environmentalists handled tickets, receipts and passes printed on thermal paper, which commonly contains BPA or bisphenol A, and thermal paper coated with BPS or bisphenol S, which some companies switched to in light of BPA concerns (though it’s thought by some to also have negative health effects). In both experiments, BPA and BPS levels in the researchers’ bodies increased significantly, according to the article. BPA is reportedly linked to diabetes, obesity, ADHD and breast and prostate cancers.
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