Two advocacy groups have launched a statement on sources of BPA. A study has discovered BPA on both receipts and money. BPA is very controversial. The chemical has been found in over 90 % of $1 bills examined by these groups. The amounts of Bisphenol A discovered are well inside of levels considered "safe" by U.S. and European governments. Those $1 bills could possibly force lots of people to get a personal loan for healthcare expenses if they have an excessive amount of contact with the bills. Source of article – BPA chemical found on money possibly transferred from receipts by MoneyBlogNewz.
Details on BPA
Plastics generally have Bisphenol A, or BPA, in it as an organic chemical. Typically BPA is used for hardening. Polycarbonate and epoxy resins are hardened. BPA could be used also to line the metal that is in cans of food. Estrogen in the body is being mimicked by BPA. Animal studies have shown a link with BPA to numerous things. Neurological disorders, obesity, thyroid dysfunction and cancer are all linked. If there is enough BPA exposure, other things can happen. Permanently altering DNA is one of these items. In fact, Canada takes extreme caution with BPA. It is toxic there. The United States implies that BPA is defined as a "chemical of concern." It isn't regulated much though.
Receipts having BPA on them
There is some "preliminary evidence" to suggest BPA is on receipts. Three studies released this year show this. Thermal receipts use a powder of BPA blended with ink to work. Heating or pressing on the powder causes the ink to release. That causing printing to happen. Numerous restaurants, retail stores and shops use thermal receipts. A "microdose" of BPA is given if the powder rubs off the receipts. A study was done on it. Individuals would not “receive more than about 2.5 % of the tolerable daily intake of BPA from handling a single receipt.”
BPA on money as well
After discovering BPA was transferred from receipts, it had been decided to look other places. Money was the next study. A study had been done with 22 $1 bills by the Washington Toxic Coalition. They found that 21 of them had "significant" amounts of BPA on them. Money would have gotten the BPA on them from being with receipts. This isn't proven yet and is just a theory. More research needs to be done on the story though. It is just one small study that needs to be looked into. You should make an effort to minimize your exposure to BPA by handling money less. It is possible that an act like the Toxic Substances Control Act making BPA a toxic substance might be passed by Congress soon though.
Info from
Science News
sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/61764/title/Receipts_a_large_%E2%80%94_and_largely_ignored_%E2%80%94_source_of_BPA
Time
healthland.time.com/2010/12/08/dirty-money-traces-of-bpa-found-on-currency/
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A#World_Health_Organization
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