Thursday, September 16, 2010

BPA in Receipts. . .

Oh my has it been a while! I apologize for not posting here in so long!

The Os, the Arroyo Food Co-op, the new local Mothers of Kids with Food Sensitivities support group, and the new gluten-free bakery business (details to come!) have been keeping me rather busy lately!

I haven't much time right now either, but came across something today that inspired me to write a quick entry.

We've all been learning more about the various plastic food and beverage containers that contain a hormone-disruptive chemical called bisphenol-A (BPA) and a lot of people have been finding safer alternatives to any plastics for a variety of reasons in addition to trying to avoid this toxin.

While it's been great to see that, finally, the harmful effects of BPA have made it's way to mainstream over the past few years - I'm surprised to have found some information about another source of BPA from this article by the Environmental Working Group.

I had no idea about this - some cash register receipts from some retail locations (including Whole Foods, U.S. Post Office, CVS, and others) contain very high levels of BPA. And, though research is limited - some studies have shown that BPA can be absorbed via the skin. Whether it can exert its toxic effects via skin absorption is still to be determined, but I don't think I need to wait for those studies to have concern about handling these receipts. I also wonder about the employees who handle hundreds of these receipts a day - someone should do a study on their exposure and absorption rates.

Thanks for stopping in - hoping to be more active here at The Science Mom as the fall progresses!