The Latest "Serious Health Risk" Is Paper Receipts?!

Here's another reason to say NO to paper receipts:  Turns out they can have high levels of a hormone-disrupting chemical called "BPS." Holding a BPS-laced receipt for just a few seconds can have "serious health consequences."

Have you ever stood around while at the store or gas station was printing out a FOUR-MILE-LONG receipt, and thought to yourself, "Come on, you're killing me smalls this is taking forever"?  Well brace yourself, that may be true . . . literally.

Health researchers say that thermal paper receipts can often have high levels of what is known as a "forever chemical" called Bisphenol S or better known as "BPS."  It is very similar to BPA, that is found in plastics.  We have all seen things labeled "BPA-FREE."

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The BPS in receipts is "hormone-disrupting."  They say that it, "mimics estrogen and can throw off the normal functioning of the body . . . including metabolism, growth and development, and reproduction." (Fox News)

The chemical can be absorbed through your skin when handling receipt paper.  And apparently, holding a BPS-laced receipt for only 10 SECONDS could have some "serious health consequences."

Is this a SERIOUS concern, or just a fleeting INTERNET concern? Hard to say.

This is by no means a not a "new" discovery.  Scientists have been researching the harmful effects of BPS for some time now.  In 2021, German researchers warned that it could "seriously damage" human brains after study on goldfish.

And it was known that BPS was in THERMAL paper receipts.  That's one of the reasons they are NOT RECYCLABLE and just never ever go away no matter what you do. Wash them, dry them, toss them in the trash. They always survive.

It is hitting the news now because the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) conducted a study recently and found that many retailers across the nation are using thermal receipts with overly high levels of BPS. They have big plans to sue retailers who continue to use these, without providing "clear warnings" on the receipts.

If you're an employee who handles receipts, they suggest using gloves. They're also telling consumers to decline paper receipts whenever possible.