Thermal receipt paper may be a potentially significant source of BPA

BPA dermal absorption may be significant

2014-10-22

(Press-News.org) Thermal paper, sometimes used in cash register receipts, may be a potential source of exposure to the hormone disruptor bisphenol-A (BPA), according to a study published October 22, 2014 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Annette Hormann from University of Missouri and colleagues.

Results showed that when men and women handled a thermal receipt after using a hand sanitizer, there was a very large amount of BPA transferred from the receipt to the hand, resulting in a rapid increase in blood levels of BPA.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is used in a wide variety of products, and is found in almost everyone's urine, suggesting widespread exposure from multiple sources. In the study, researchers tested people who cleaned their hands with hand sanitizer and then held thermal paper receipts, and then ate French fries with their hands. BPA was then absorbed rapidly, and more BPA was absorbed by women than by men.

The outer layer of thermal receipt paper is covered with BPA or another estrogen-mimicking chemical called bisphenol S (BPS) as a print developer. Thermal paper is typically used for cash register receipts in restaurants, making BPA contamination of food from fingers and hands likely, and may have cashiers exposed to BPA at continual, high levels.

"The BPA blood levels caused by touching thermal paper are related to many diseases (for example obesity and diabetes) that are increasing in frequency as the use of BPA is increasing," said co-author Frederick S. vom Saal. "The use of BPA or other similar chemicals in thermal paper thus poses a threat to human health."

INFORMATION: Adapted by PLOS ONE from release provided by the author

In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper: http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0110509

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Thermal paper cash register receipts account for high bisphenol A (BPA) levels in humans

2014-10-22

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical that is used in a variety of consumer products, such as water bottles, dental composites and resins used to line metal food and beverage containers, and also is used in thermal paper cash register receipts. Now, research conducted at the University of Missouri is providing the first data that BPA from thermal paper used in cash register receipts accounts for high levels of BPA in humans. Subjects studied showed a rapid increase of BPA in their blood after using a skin care product and then touching a store receipt with ...

Cause of aging remains elusive

2014-10-22

A report by Chinese researchers in the journal Nature a few months ago was a small sensation: they appeared to have found the cause for why organisms age. An international team of scientists, headed by the University of Bonn, has now refuted a basic assumption of the Nature article. The reasons for aging thus remain elusive. The Chinese article caused a stir amongst experts worldwide. Using a simple measurement in young nematode worms, the researchers reported they had been able to predict how long they would live . The researchers had introduced a fluorescent probe ...

Drones help show how environmental changes affect the spread of infectious diseases

2014-10-22

Unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, can collect detailed information in real time at relatively low cost for ecological research. In a new Opinion piece published in the Cell Press journal Trends in Parasitology, experts demonstrate that drones can be used to understand how environmental factors influence the spread of infectious diseases. "Drones can provide highly accurate information on changes to land, such as deforestation or changing types of agriculture. This helps to understand the impact on the movement and distribution of people, animals, and insects that carry ...

Mathematical model shows how the brain remains stable during learning

2014-10-22

Complex biochemical signals that coordinate fast and slow changes in neuronal networks keep the brain in balance during learning, according to an international team of scientists from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Japan, UC San Francisco (UCSF), and Columbia University in New York. The work, reported on October 22 in the journal Neuron, culminates a six-year quest by a collaborative team from the three institutions to solve a decades-old question and opens the door to a more general understanding of how the brain learns and consolidates new experiences on dramatically ...

When heart cancer hides in the brain

2014-10-22

It was fortunate for the middle-aged woman that she presented her symptoms at the European Institute of Oncology (IEO), where doctors had seen another strange case just two years before. The 59-year-old woman had complained of chest pain and shortness of breath. A biopsy revealed that she had an unusual type of "heart cancer" called cardiac lymphoma. But a week after receiving treatment, the patient developed a headache and her motor skills began to deteriorate. Strangely, in 2011, a similar case had presented at the IEO. In that instance, the patient's cardiac ...

Brain simulation raises questions

2014-10-22

What does it mean to simulate the human brain? Why is it important to do so? And is it even possible to simulate the brain separately from the body it exists in? These questions are discussed in a new paper published in the scientific journal Neuron today. Simulating the brain means modeling it on a computer. But in real life, brains don't exist in isolation. The brain is a complex and adaptive system that is seated within our bodies and entangled with all the other adaptive systems inside us that together make up a whole person. And the fact that the brain is a brain ...

Human skin cells reprogrammed directly into brain cells

2014-10-22

Scientists have described a way to convert human skin cells directly into a specific type of brain cell affected by Huntington's disease, an ultimately fatal neurodegenerative disorder. Unlike other techniques that turn one cell type into another, this new process does not pass through a stem cell phase, avoiding the production of multiple cell types, the study's authors report. The researchers, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, demonstrated that these converted cells survived at least six months after injection into the brains of mice and behaved ...

Quality of biopsy directly linked to survival in bladder cancer patients

2014-10-22

UCLA researchers have shown for the first time that the quality of diagnostic staging using biopsy in patients with bladder cancer is directly linked with survival, meaning those that don't get optimal biopsies are more likely to die from their disease. The two-year study found that about half of bladder cancer patients who were biopsied had insufficient material – meaning there was no bladder wall muscle retrieved – to accurately stage the cancer. Additionally, the UCLA research team found that a suboptimal biopsy and incorrect tumor staging was associated ...

How people view their own weight influences bariatric surgery success

2014-10-22

Negative feelings about one's own weight, known as internalized weight bias, influence the success people have after undergoing weight loss surgery, according to research appearing in the journal Obesity Surgery, published by Springer. The study, from the Geisinger Health System in the US, is considered the first and only study to examine internalized weight bias in relation to post-surgical weight loss success in adults. Internalized weight bias adversely affects many overweight people. Studies have shown that weight bias stems from personal perception or societal views ...

Some scientists share better than others

2014-10-22

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Some scientists share better than others. While astronomers and geneticists embrace the concept, the culture of ecology still has a ways to go. Research by Michigan State University, published in the current issue of Bioscience, explores the paradox that although ecologists share findings via scientific journals, they do not share the data on which the studies are built, said Patricia Soranno, MSU fisheries and wildlife professor and co-author of the paper. "One reason for not sharing data is the fear of being scooped by another scientist; ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Project to redesign clinical trials for neurologic conditions for underserved populations funded with $2.9M grant to UTHealth Houston

Menarini Group and Insilico Medicine enter a second exclusive global license agreement for an AI discovered preclinical asset targeting high unmet needs in oncology