Cash register can be a BPA polluter

"Next time when you receive a purchase receipt from a cash register, make sure you dispose the receipt properly."

That's great advice, but how exactly is one suppose to dispose of it?

When advising "make sure you dispose the receipt properly," it would be helpful to share what IS this proper way of disposal. Some receipts need to be kept in case a return of product is necessary.

"one receipt from a McDonald's Happy Meal"...way to sensationalize the story. I'm quite sure the fact that a Happy Meal was ordered had nothing to do with the amount of BPA in the receipt. They could have just said it was a McDonald's receipt. Just trying to strike fear into the hearts of parents I guess.

You wrote EPA instead of BPA in multiple places, just an FYI.

Otherwise great article, we need to get this stuff out of our products!!

Thank you!!

So are we supposed to burn them? Flush them? Put them in the garbage rather than recycle them? This was not very helpful.

Receipts need to be kept for various reasons. These can be taxes, business expenses, or even individual record keeping.

It sounds like the cash register industry will have to make back to impact printing, which is actually better since the thermal receipts tend to degrade to the point of illegibility much faster.

I thought we were supposed to save all our receipts for tax purposes? Great now the IRS is trying to kill us slowly with BPA!

Since when do children handle receipts?

Sure this may be a heath hazard to those working the register and they need to be notified, but no one is ingesting the receipts.

What a sensationalist, B.S. non-issue.

If the dangers are as claimed, one would thing that people who work with this paper all day--manufacturing, distribution, cashiers) would be dropping like flies.

What does McDonalds have to do with this? Poor article.

"Next time when you receive a purchase receipt from a cash register, make sure you dispose the receipt properly."

Certainly, you wouldn't want to eat it!

If this stuff is so toxic we need a complete zero-tolerance policy, we should have noticed by now. If not, this is way, way overblown

WOW!!! Interesting article that gives NO solutions. Another thought: IF BPA is a known 'danger' WHY are manufacturers still allowed to use it??? Seems like a no-brainer to me. IF we can store millions of things on a tiny chip, there has to be something else which is safe to use for the same job/production. Maybe if we did revert back to the imprinted receipts, some jobs would be saved??? Change is NOT always good.

How long did we manufacture and use DDT, Asbestos and Dursban before they were proved to be harmful to us and the environment? Yes, this was a poorly written article, but that does not make BPA a good thing. BPA should be banned as should all harmful chemicals produced by greedy companies and their greedy shareholders.

funny, all ya'll who are complaining about receipts needing to be kept most likely never heard of a photo copy machine. another missed point, thermal receipts have a shelf life of only about 1.7 years, then they start to turn black, defeating the purpose of tax retention. The proper way to dispose of it would be to soak the paper in alcohol, which would turn it black, and then to flush it, the alcohol neutralizes BPA safely.

Sean, you don't have to eat something for it to enter your body, the skin can absorb some substances rather easily. Not to mention that once it's on your fingertips it gets transferred to the things and people you touch. As for the rest of you who think that this is a "non issue" due to the fact that people aren't dropping like flies...well, people are dropping like flies. Did you miss the sentence that said "increased risk of breast cancer". Also, you might want to check your head if you think we shouldn't worry about a toxic substance if it's ONLY messing up our brain, behavior, entire endocrine system, etc... Maybe you need to check into past routes of personal BPA exposure, yourself. Obviously, half of these comments are written by people who have a stake in the industries responsible for this negligence.

Just a thought......Maybe it time to consider a electronic receipt in our new age of digital technology, like a receipt sent to the consumers email address or a receipt that could be printed off the companies website, at least as an option to the consumer until the idea catches on. The company could benefit from communicating with their consumers digitally and save money that is spent on the paper and also help the environment by reducing waste. This would reduce the risk of any health concerns with the paper and disposal of. I also think for the article to be effective, it should of stated what is the proper way to dispose of the receipts therefore the consumers would know how to do their part in eliminating the problem.

The major harm that DDT caused to the environment was the accelerated growth of the humnan population due to its use. In fact, what was later learned was that many millions of people died of malaria and other insect-born diseases because of its banning, before a suitable replacement was found.

Kohia.....you stated the way to properly disposing of the paper would be to soak it in alcohol, what kind of alcohol? Also you stated we the consumer should flush the receipts after doing so, is it then safe for our sewer systems and septic tanks? Is it then safe for our water?

The "Happy Meal" is probably worse for you than BPA.

David,

It would appear that the time has already come for a follow-up story on this original. Besides being confusing about whether we're talking about BPA or the EPA, there appear to be a lot of holes that have been pointed out.

I spent 22 years as a journalist/writer/editor. The editor in me says this story lacked proper oversight before posting. That may be a function of today's hyper-media world, but it's no good excuse.

Appleton Papers, which makes more than 50 percent of the receipt paper sold in the U.S., stopped using BPA in 2006. After reviewing available science we concluded removing BPA from our thermal products was the responsible thing to do. In doing so, we gave retailers and restaurants a safe, easy and cost-competitive choice. Our BPA-free thermal receipt paper is available globally.

We realize that many of our competitors continue to use BPA despite mounting concerns about its safety. We are actively participating in the EPA’s BPA Alternatives in Thermal Paper Partnership. We hope the remainder of the thermal paper industry moves away from potentially harmful BPA. More information about the partnership is available on the EPA website: http://www.epa.gov/dfe/pubs/projects/bpa/index.htm

For more information about Appleton and our BPA-free thermal paper products, visit www.appletonideas.***.