The hormone disrupting chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) is currently used in around 70% of thermal paper in the EU – the paper that is used for many till receipts in shops.
The French Government has proposed that there should be an EU-wide ban on this use of Bisphenol A, due to the risks to workers and consumers. Their detailed submission is available on the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) web site here.
CHEM Trust strongly supports this proposal for a ban on BPA in this use, and we’ve submitted our own comments to ECHA backing this ban:
“CHEM Trust supports the proposal by France to restrict the use of BPA in thermal paper (ubiquitously used for visa till receipts and lottery tickets). This is because several studies, from different research groups working in different laboratories, have shown that BPA, often at very low dose levels, can cause effects on mammary [breast] tissue.”
We hope that ECHA backs this restriction, and then we can start to get rid of this exposure to Bisphenol A.
It’s worth noting that we make it clear in our submission that we do not want Bisphenol A replaced with the very similar chemical Bisphenol S (BPS):
“CHEM Trust would be very concerned if BPS was used as an alternative.
This is because there are growing concerns about its toxicity. For example… Bisphenol S (BPS) appears to be just as potent as BPA in altering brain development and causing hyperactive behaviour”
