You might want to say “No thanks” the next time a cashier asks if you want your receipt. Handling these paper slips may allow harmful chemicals to enter your body through your skin.
Printed receipts often contain bisphenol A, or BPA. The chemical is sometimes used to make plastic products, like bottles. BPA can cause health problems in children, affecting brain development and disrupting hormones—chemical messengers in the body. But absorbing BPA through your skin may actually be more harmful than consuming it, says Jonathan Martin, a chemistry professor at Stockholm University in Sweden.
Martin and his team found that ingested BPA usually leaves the human body within 24 hours. But traces of BPA absorbed through the skin can remain in the body for up to a week. That results in prolonged exposure to the chemical, which could have serious implications for health. “We are not just what we eat, but also what we touch,” Martin explains.