Thermal-paper receipts 'toxic,' report shows
Thermal-paper receipts in Korea contain a hormone-like xenoestrogen called bisphenol A that is harmful to health, according to a Seoul National University study. / Korea Times file
By Ko Dong-hwan
Retail store cashiers who handle thermal-paper receipts risk being exposed to a harmful chemical, research shows.
Seoul National University's Graduate School of Public Health released a study Thursday that showed touching thermal-paper rolls with bare hands ― widely used as store sales receipts or for queue slips at banks and other places ― doubles the risk of absorbing bisphenol A (BPA), a type of xenoestrogen in the paper.
Exhibiting estrogen-mimicking hormone-like properties, BPA is considered harmful by many countries for consumer products and food containers. The United States Food and Drug Administration, the European Union and Canada have banned use of the chemical in making baby bottles.
Prof. Choi Kyung-ho, who conducted the research, studied the urine samples of 54 middle-aged women who have been working as retail store cashiers for a median period of 11 years.
He tested samples before and after they worked for two consecutive days without gloves. He repeated the process while they wore gloves.
The average BPA amount before they started working without gloves was 0.45 nanograms per milliliter of urine. After two days the figure jumped to 0.92, the research showed.
Working with gloves, the BPA amount didn't show any increase ― it was 0.51 before the work and 0.47 after.
“The study showed that for those dealing with paper receipts in workplaces, wearing gloves can dramatically reduce the amount of BPA affecting them,” said Choi, whose latest work was published online in Environment International, a journal about environmental science, risk and health.
BPA is used in synthetics and common consumer goods like plastic bottles, sports equipment, CDs and DVDs, coatings on the inside of many food and beverage containers and thermal paper such as sales receipts. The maximum exposure recommended for a man weighing 60 kilograms is 3 milligrams a day.
BPA on paper receipts can be absorbed when the front side is heated before being printed out for customers. Dye and developer mix, causing a chemical reaction that produces BPA, which then creates the printing.
Some places use bisphenol S due to health concerns but Choi said all bisphenol compounds posed similar dangers. He said digital receipts on smartphones are a safer option and recommended discarding paper receipts as soon as getting them.