Dear Health Conscious Reader,
Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours.
With all the holiday shopping happening the weekend, there’s something I thought you should know.
The next time the grocery store clerk hands you a receipt, remember this. That receipt contains millions of times more bisphenol-A (BPA) – the cancer-causing, estrogen-mimicking chemical – than a plastic water bottle.
BPA is dangerous, even in small amounts. Studies show that it may cause cancers, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and more.
Now, I’ve come across some research that shows your common, everyday store and credit card receipts are laden with BPA. BPA is the chemical compound that allows the receipts to print without old-fashioned carbon paper.
Nearly every modern register uses this kind of paper. And every receipt, according to this new research, contains from 40 mg to 100 mg of BPA. In comparison, a plastic water bottle contains nanograms of BPA. One milligram equals a million nanograms.1
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That’s a lot of BPA. Now, I should point out that nobody has done any studies yet to find out
how much of the BPA from each receipt gets from your skin into your blood stream. But, we do know that estrogen can be absorbed by the skin – just think of the birth control patch. So it’s likely that some or all of that BPA may seep into you skin.The good news is – you can easily do something about controlling the BPA entering your system.
One obvious thing is don’t let children play with receipts or put them in their mouth.
Washing your hands is one of the quickest, safest, easiest and most overlooked things you can do to protect your health on many, many levels. Unfortunately, few of us do it properly.
1. You don’t need a special soap. Expensive antibacterial soap is a waste of money and can contain toxic chemicals. Same goes for hand sanitizers.
Ordinary, plain, unscented soap is the best. It kills just as many microbes and bacteria as antibacterial soap. A U.S. FDA advisory committee found that use of antibacterial soaps provides no benefits over plain soap and water.2
Overuse of antibacterial soap can lead to bacteria mutations – producing a super bacteria, resistant to antimicrobial agents.
2. Your choice of hot or cold water makes no difference. For comfort, I like warm water.
3. The length of time washing your hands is important. Twenty seconds is the optimum length – that’s about the time it takes to sing the “Happy Birthday” song – twice.
4. Make sure you rinse the soap off your hands with running water and dry them well – preferably on a disposable paper towel or air dryer.
Make it a habit when you come home to first unload your purchases, file your credit card and store receipts and then wash your hands.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences – National Institutes of Health. http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/48084/title/Science_%2B_the_Public__
Concerned_about_BPA_Check_your_receipts - Environmental Working Group – http://www.ewg.org/Healthy-Home-Tips-05#washhands