YOUR HEALTH

Employee Health and Safety Warning  for bank tellers, food store cashiers and super-busy retailers  -   BPA

The Globe and Mail, February 27,  L11A reprinted an article from Reuters news service, reporting a study which shows there may be a health risk to people who are almost constantly touching receipts that are produced by thermal printers.

The active chemical in the treated paper is BPA (bisphenol A) – a chemical being banned in baby bottles and can lining -- which when TOUCHED can be absorbed through the skin.

BPA has an effect similar to the hormone ESTROGEN and has been linked to reproductive disorders and brain anomalies in fetuses and a higher risk of child obesity – according to this article.

Put simply, the study done by the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical center show that people who touch  or pull thermal receipts from their printers for 2 hours  have significant amounts of BPA in their urine.

Only wearing nitrite gloves (as other types were not tested yet) and frequent hand washing blocked BPA absorption.

LISTEN UP: WALMART, TARGET, COSCO, LABLAW, METRO, NO FRILLS, SOBEYS.

LISTEN UP: Tim Hortons, Second Cup, Starbucks

LISTEN UP all busy retailers.

 

PS: I have been telling my various banks for years that PASSBOOKS are better and easier for customers to track their dealings instead of keeping hundreds or thermal paper strip receipts that may be almost a foot long for even two or three single line transactions.  They also are not permanent as one telller recently told me, as the ink evaporates after 6 months or so in her experience.

So, to reduce health risks to your front line tellers and make life better for your customers, go back to passbooks using plain paper and no BPA!!!