Many consumers are concerned about BPA in the plastics they eat and drink from, but how many of us were aware that BPA could be present in something as ordinary as a store receipt?

In July, laboratory tests commissioned by a consumer group called the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found high levels of BPA on 40 percent of receipts from all sorts of mainstream businesses… from major retailers, grocery stores, and convenience stores to post offices and ATMs.

It seems that BPA is used to coat the thermal paper used to print receipts. (Maybe that’s why the receipts feel greasy?) But it’s not been easy for consumers to know that there could be potential risks just from handling this paper.

Earlier this year, the EPA invited Wisconsin-based paper company Appleton to participate in a partnership program called Design for the Environment, which took as its primary goal to seek creative solutions to help reduce consumer exposure to BPA.

Appleton is now the only producer of BPA-free thermal receipt paper in the United States, and they announced last week that they have added easy-to-see red fibers to its paper. The red fibers make it easy for consumers to know that the receipt paper is BPA-free.

Learn more about it from the Consumer Affairs web site. Nice job, Appleton.

Many consumers are concerned about BPA in the plastics they eat and drink from, but how many of us were aware that BPA could be present in something as ordinary as a store receipt?

Post by Stacey Williams-Ng