Amounts of bisphenol A have been found in the body of people who have been in contact with receipts.
We usually crumple them in the palm of our hand when leaving the store, and that’s a mistake. The receipts are impregnated with bisphenol A, a chemical known to disrupt the hormonal system. A study published in the journal PLOS One shows that this toxic compound enters the body in a very short time.
The researchers observed what happened when the study participants were in contact with receipts after washing their hands with hydroalcoholic gel, and before enjoying a plate of fries.
According to the results of this work, it does not take more than 90 minutes for bisphenol A to colonize the human organism. At the end of this time, the authors detected “substantial amounts” of the substance in the blood and urine of the participants.
Prohibited in France
For the researchers, these results show the need to ban bisphenol A in everyday consumer products, such as receipts – but the list of products concerned is long (cosmetics, food containers, plastics, etc.).
France has initiated such prohibition measures. Bisphenol A has now been banned from all consumer products since 2015, but a survey conducted this summer by the Association Santé Environnement France (Asef) shows that some cans and tins still contain it. In contrast, the bottles tested did not contain any trace of the substance.
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