Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) is a high-production-volume chemical associated with a wide range of health outcomes in animal and human studies. BPA is used as a developer in thermal paper products, including cash register receipt paper; however, little is known about exposure of cashiers to BPA and alternative compounds in receipt paper.
Objective: We determined whether handling receipt paper results in measurable absorption of BPA or the BPA alternatives bisphenol S (BPS) and 4-hydroxyphenyl 4-isoprooxyphenylsulfone (BPSIP).
Methods: Cashiers (n = 77) and non-cashiers (n = 25) were recruited from the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill region of North Carolina during 2011-2013. Receipts were analyzed for the presence of BPA or alternatives considered for use in thermal paper. In cashiers, total urine and serum BPA, BPS, and BPSIP levels in post-shift samples (collected ≤ 2 hr after completing a shift) were compared with pre-shift samples. Levels of these compounds in urine from cashiers were compared to levels in urine from non-cashiers.
Results: Each receipt contained 1-2% by weight of the paper of BPA, BPS, or BPSIP. The post-shift geometric mean total urinary BPS concentration was significantly higher than the pre-shift mean in 33 cashiers who handled receipts containing BPS. The mean urine BPA concentrations in 31 cashiers who handled BPA receipts were as likely to decrease as to increase after a shift, but the mean post-shift concentrations were significantly higher than those in non-cashiers. BPSIP was detected more frequently in the urine of cashiers handling BPSIP receipts than in the urine of non-cashiers. Only a few cashiers had detectable levels of total BPA or BPS in serum, whereas BPSIP tended to be detected more frequently.
Conclusions: Thermal receipt paper is a potential source of occupational exposure to BPA, BPS, and BPSIP.
Citation: Thayer KA, Taylor KW, Garantziotis S, Schurman SH, Kissling GE, Hunt D, Herbert B, Church R, Jankowich R, Churchwell MI, Scheri RC, Birnbaum LS, Bucher JR. 2016. Bisphenol A, bisphenol S, and 4-hydroxyphenyl 4-isoprooxyphenylsulfone (BPSIP) in urine and blood of cashiers. Environ Health Perspect 124:437-444; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1409427.