Holiday Shopping, Hand Sanitizer and Receipts - those are word you wouldn't expect to see together in a headline. But have you heard about the danger lurking while shopping? Consider this familiar story:
So you're out shopping. There are so many people (and some are coughing and sniffling), you're touching so many things, and you think "I better use some hand sanitizer just in case!" You breathe a sigh of relief and think you've just done something positive for yourself. And then you go into a store - maybe buying gifts or groceries for a holiday meal and take the receipt. Guess what? You may have just picked up a little something extra - BPA, the endocrine disrupting chemical found in the thermal paper used for receipts. Studies have linked BPA to a number of disturbing health effects, including the risk of developing serious diseases, Hand sanitizers (as well as other products like hand lotion) contain chemicals that make your skin more permeable to some substances, including BPA. Very concerning in the study was the fact that significant quantities of BPA can be absorbed this way. With repeated exposure, of course the risks rise.
The good news: you do have options, including: Avoid hand sanitizers - use plain soap and water, don't take receipts if you don't need them and opt for emailed receipts (more and more stores offer this option), and if you do take receipts, handle them as briefly as possible and again - wash with soap and water.
For full details in the PLOS ONE Journal, click here:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0110509
So you're out shopping. There are so many people (and some are coughing and sniffling), you're touching so many things, and you think "I better use some hand sanitizer just in case!" You breathe a sigh of relief and think you've just done something positive for yourself. And then you go into a store - maybe buying gifts or groceries for a holiday meal and take the receipt. Guess what? You may have just picked up a little something extra - BPA, the endocrine disrupting chemical found in the thermal paper used for receipts. Studies have linked BPA to a number of disturbing health effects, including the risk of developing serious diseases, Hand sanitizers (as well as other products like hand lotion) contain chemicals that make your skin more permeable to some substances, including BPA. Very concerning in the study was the fact that significant quantities of BPA can be absorbed this way. With repeated exposure, of course the risks rise.
The good news: you do have options, including: Avoid hand sanitizers - use plain soap and water, don't take receipts if you don't need them and opt for emailed receipts (more and more stores offer this option), and if you do take receipts, handle them as briefly as possible and again - wash with soap and water.
For full details in the PLOS ONE Journal, click here:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0110509
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