Could the ink in your till receipt give you cancer?

TILL receipts contain a toxic substance that could cause cancer and infertility, scientists warn.

The chemical BPA, which can be absorbed via the skin, was found in up to 90 per cent of them.

They found that BPA had a hormone-like effect on human cells and posed a risk to health.

Shoppers should not let them come into contact with food and avoid handling them, they warn.

They should also ‘not play with them, crumple them to throw them in the trash, write notes on them, or store them in cars, purses or handbags’.

BPA stands for bisphenol A, a hormone-disrupting chemical that can trigger infertility, obesity and cancer. The chemical is used in socalled thermal till receipts to help bring out the black type on the white paper during printing and is widely used in UK shops.

A consortium of British shops said its members were ‘reviewing the use’ of till receipts containing BPA. In the study published in Environmental Research, experts looked at 112 tickets from Brazil, Spain and France.

Ninety per cent of receipts from Spain and Brazil had BPA in them, while half of those from France, where the chemical is being phased out, had traces. Researcher Nicolas Olea, of Spain’s University of Granada said: ‘For example, tickets should not get in contact with food – for instance, meat or fish – while unpacking it in the kitchen.

‘Moreover, we should not crumple the tickets to throw them in the trash, play with them, write notes on them, or store them in cars, purses or handbags. In short, we should manipulate these kinds of tickets as little as possible.’

And Dr Anna Watson, of safety group CHEM Trust, said: ‘BPA is a known hormone-disrupting chemical which has been linked to very worrying human health impacts including increased risk of breast cancer, impaired sperm counts, impacts on diabetes and obesity and coronary heart disease.

‘Recently there have been meagre steps to phase BPA out of consumer products, such as from babies’ bottles, but it remains in many other consumer products like food can linings. We need more action to make sure BPA is removed from all products we come into contact with – but that the industry do not just replace it in items such as till receipts and baby bottles with other bisphenol chemicals – which are linked to similar health impacts.’

David Bolton, of the British Retail Consortium, said: ‘BRC Members are aware of the issues associated with Bisphenol A and have either moved to alternatives or are in the process of reviewing its use.

‘We take the health and safety of both our staff and customers very seriously, and will continue to work with legislators to improve safety in the retail environment.’

Researchers said the easily erasable ink contains substances that cause cancer and infertility.

They said exposure to BPA can lead to genito-urinary malformations, infertility, obesity and cancer, particularly breast cancer.

The report said that the receipts were ‘easily identified’ as they were the ones ‘that, after some time, lose what they have printed on them and, when you are going to return the trousers you bought, the cashiers tell you that they cannot see anything.

‘Very often, the only thing you find is a fine white powder that comes off when taking them out of the handbag or purse.

‘BPA is, precisely, that white powder that sticks to your fingers.’ Mr Olea said hundreds of thousands of young cashiers may be particularly vulnerable.

‘Very worrying health impacts’