Attention! Thermal Paper May Interfere with Your Endocrine System

2022-04-21 Hits: 95 views

In life, people often come into contact with takeaway orders, express orders, movie tickets, food price tags, POS machine swiping card receipts. Basically, these all use “thermal paper”. This kind of paper is a thin layer of heat-sensitive discoloration layer on the base paper, which can develop color when the temperature reaches a certain level, which not only saves the carbon ribbon, but also reduces the required volume of the printer, so it is widely used. We not only choose high-quality thermal paper, but also choose the leading thermal paper company.

 

However, the environmental protection organization Nontoxic Pioneer recently conducted a survey on the content of bisphenol A in 30 thermal paper products sold on the Internet and found that 53% of thermal paper samples had bisphenol A detected. BPA is an endocrine disrupting chemical.

 

That is to say, these common small tickets in life may be interfering with people’s endocrine.

 

Beware: BPA on your fingertip’s endocrine disruptors

 

Bisphenol A is one of the color-developing agents commonly used in thermal coatings. Since bisphenol A in thermal paper exists as a free monomer, it is easier to be absorbed by the human body than in food packaging materials.

 

BPA has been shown to play a role in the pathogenesis of a variety of endocrine diseases, including female and male infertility, precocious puberty, hormone-dependent tumors such as breast and prostate cancer, and polycystic ovary Metabolic disorders including syndromes, etc. In addition, BPA exposure may increase the risk of heart disease and affect the development of infants and young children.

 

Studies have shown that bisphenol A in thermal paper will migrate to the skin of fingers. When the fingers are wet or greasy, the migration amount will be 10 times that of dry fingers. After holding the invoice for 2 hours, bisphenol A will penetrate into the skin to a certain depth.

 

Therefore, countries have made strict restrictions on its use.

 

According to European Union Regulation (EU) 2016/2235, the maximum content of bisphenol A in thermal paper is limited to 200mg/kg. my country prohibits the use of bisphenol A in food contact materials for infants and young children. At the same time, GB 9685-2016 “National Food Safety Standard for the Use of Additives for Food Contact Materials and Products” stipulates that the migration of bisphenol A in coatings and coatings shall not exceed 0.6mg/kg. The recommended national standard GB/T39498-2020 “Guidelines for the Control of the Use of Key Chemical Substances in Consumer Products” (hereinafter referred to as the “Guidelines”) suggests that the content of bisphenol A in thermal paper should be less than 0.02%.

 

Survey: 47% of thermal paper samples have high bisphenol A content

 

So, can the thermal paper that people come into contact with in their lives be used with confidence?

 

In October last year, the environmental protection organization Toxic Pioneer searched with “thermal paper” as the key word, sorted by sales volume, and selected the top 10 models on Taobao, JD.com, and Pinduoduo, respectively, for a total of 30 types of thermal paper. The samples were sent to a qualified third-party laboratory for bisphenol A content testing. The samples cover 17 brands (18 samples), including Deli, Tianzhang, Yueshuangye, Nuoma, Xinwei, Jinzhi, etc.

 

Due to the product implementation standards of thermal paper GB/T28210-2011 “Thermal Paper” and HG/T2406-2014 “Universal Pressure Sensitive Adhesive Labels” both lack the limit requirements for bisphenol A. Therefore, according to the “Guidelines” and EU standards, the researchers determined that the content of bisphenol A in this test is less than 0.02%, that is, less than 200mg/kg.

 

The test report shows that 16 (53%) of the 30 thermal paper samples have bisphenol A detected, and 14 (47%) have bisphenol A content that exceeds the “Guidelines” and the EU’s bisphenol A limit requirements. Exceed the standard 33 times – 72 times. And the bisphenol A content of the samples that exceeded the standard was as high as 6000 mg/kg or more.

 

In addition, according to the regulations, the packaging of thermal paper should have an explanatory label, and indicate the product name, specification, standard number, registered trademark, manufacturer’s name, factory address, batch number or production date and shelf life, and inspection mark. But 11 (37%) of the 30 thermal paper samples purchased by the investigators did not have an explanatory label that met the standard requirements. Among the 3 samples with the most excessive bisphenol A content (over 10,000 mg/kg), two of them have no label information.

 

Suggestion: Improve the system, and work together on the production side, the sales side, and the user side

 

At present, my country lacks mandatory control of bisphenol A in thermal paper products, and the risk of bisphenol A in products is relatively high. Therefore, the researchers suggested that the State Administration for Market Regulation and the National Standardization Administration should formulate mandatory international standards for thermal paper products and limit the content of bisphenol A with reference to the Guidelines and EU standards.

 

On the production side, the researchers suggested that thermal paper manufacturers should implement the “Guidelines”, strengthen internal supervision of the industry, and adopt self-declaration on products to help consumers purchase BPA-free products, such as posting “BPA-free” products. logo.

 

On the sales side, the researchers suggested that e-commerce platforms should refer to the “Guide” to strengthen enterprise qualification review, and recommend or identify products that meet the qualification standards.

 

On the user side, it is recommended that businesses (including supermarkets, catering takeaways, tea shops, express delivery, etc.) use thermal paper that does not contain bisphenol A, and electronic receipts are recommended; Bisphenol A, wear latex gloves to contact and operate; it is recommended that consumers do not keep small receipts and reduce contact with thermal paper. Electronic receipts are recommended. If contact is unavoidable, wash hands promptly and avoid contact with wet hands.