Moving Away from BPA in Thermal Paper

BPA, or BPA abbreviated, is an industrial chemical used in an extensive range of products including plastics, reusable food and beverage containers, food can linings, water bottles and etc. Owing to its stability and heat-resistant characteristics, BPA was traditionally used as a coating that gives thermal paper the unique properties that allow for safe inkless printing. Thermal paper is widely used in our everyday activities from POS receipts, car parking tickets, boarding pass, or even labels such as shipping labels, pharmaceutical labels, price tags, barcode

The toxicity research data of BPA at home and abroad are mainly the results of animal investigations and experimental studies. There are relatively few reports on population epidemiological investigations and human experimental studies on the toxic effects of BPA.

Data show that BPA is a low-toxic chemical. Animal experiments have found that BPA has the effect of mimicking estrogen. Even a very low dose can cause precocious females, decreased sperm count, and prostate growth in animals. In addition, some data show that BPA has certain embryotoxicity and teratogenicity, which can significantly increase the occurrence of animal ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, leukemia and other cancers. At the same time, studies have shown that BPA is associated with asthma in mice. Preliminary human experiments have shown that pregnant women affected by BPA in the early pregnancy may cause infants to get asthma.

Scientists have specifically conducted research on the effects of BPA on male endocrine with humans as test subjects. In this experiment, the researchers compared a group of male workers who had been exposed to BPA in a Chinese factory for more than 5 years with another group of workers who had not been exposed to BPA in a five-year period. The results showed that the risk of erectile dysfunction in male workers exposed to the BPA environment was 4 times that of the control group, and the possibility of ejaculation difficulties was 7 times that of the control group. The results of this study are the first direct evidence that long-term exposure to BPA is harmful to health.

However, studies have shown that BPA is not a risk factor for human cancer. Although some research results suggest that BPA in plastic products such as plastic milk bottles may affect the growth and development of infants and young children, and cause damage to the brain and sexual organs of children, there is no sufficient evidence to prove that infants or children are released by ingesting PC milk bottles. The BPA component is harmed.

Studies have shown that the PC material used to make plastic containers may release toxic BPA, and the higher the temperature, the faster the release rate. However, whether plastic containers actually release BPA is still very controversial, and scholars from all walks of life have different opinions.

In line with consumers driving the market for safe, sustainable products, manufacturers are now doing away with BPA in thermal paper and transition to safer and more environmentally-friendly compound. With our BPA free thermal rolls, BPA transfer from thermal paper and health issues associated with it would no longer be a concern!

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