In a video of Tiktok, Tania Elliot, An influencer with medical training, grabs a store receipt Whole Foods With wooden tweezers. “Do not touch this,” he warns and explains that most paper receipts contain a toxic chemical called bisphenol a, or bpa, which is easily absorbed through the skin and is related to health problems such as infertility, hormonal imbalances and certain types of cancer.
Following this video, The New York Times communicated with specialists to verify the Tiktoker statement. “Until recently, most paper receipts from the United States contained BPA, a well -soup Bisphenol S, or BPS”The experts clarified.
“We know much less about the BPS, for example, how it can affect the organism and what exposure levels can be safe,” he explained Nancy Hopf, tIndustrial oxologist at the University of Lausana, and clarified: “It is very likely that the risk associated with the manipulation of paper receipts depends on many factors, such as the frequency and time with which you touch them.”
Most receipts are printed on thermal paper, which is covered with inks and chemical revealing that react with heat to create a printed image. That coating used to contain BPA. “BPA mimics estrogen, a hormone that interacts with many cells throughout the body, including those of the reproductive system and brain,” he said Andrea GoreProfessor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Texas in Austin and warns: “You can deceive the cell and make her believe that she is linked to a estrogen, when she is actually linked to this artificial chemical.”
Specialists consider that it could, at least in part, a series of side effects, such as Insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, obesity and infertility. The majority of the great American retailers began to replace the BPA with the BPS approximately a decade ago. A study conducted in 2023, with 571 paper receipts collected in 24 North American states, concluded that only one percent of those receipts contained BPA, while 85 percent contained BPS.
“We do not know if the BPS is safer than the BPA, but there is more and more evidence that the BPS also imitates estrogen, so that it could cause similar effects on health, especially those related to reproduction,” Gore said. In a study conducted in 2019, with 1841 pregnant women in China, scientists discovered that those who had the highest levels of BPS in the urine had 68 percent more likely to develop gestational diabetes than those that had the lowest levels. California health authorities have recently classified BPS as toxic to reproduction, both in men and women.
Both BPA and BPS are absorbed through the skin. And although it would be difficult for medical researchers to demonstrate that the manipulation of paper receipts directly causes these problems, there are sufficient evidence to recommend avoiding them, as well as other products that contain those same chemical substances. “Neither BPS nor BPA instantly absorbed, so you should not worry too much about touching a receipt for a few seconds or even a few minutes. It takes a couple of hours to penetrate, Hopf explained.
The interviewees recommended completely renouncing paper receipts and asking for an electronic receipt. But about the people who handle the cash registers and manipulate thousands of receipts every day, professionals suggest, if it is impossible to avoid the use of tickets, carry nitrile gloves to minimize exposure and suspend direct contact.
By rn
Image gallery
