Q: I’ve seen claims online that paper receipts contain toxic chemicals. Should I avoid touching them?
In a video on TikTok, Dr. Tania Elliot, a social media influencer with a medical background, grasps a Whole Foods receipt with a large pair of wooden tongs. “Don’t touch this,” she says, explaining that most paper receipts contain a “toxic” chemical called bisphenol A, or BPA, which is easily absorbed through the skin and linked to health issues like infertility, hormone imbalances and certain cancers.
Such claims are made all over the internet. And many of them are not totally wrong, experts say. Until recently, most paper receipts in the United States did contain BPA, a known hormone disruptor, and skin exposures have been linked to fertility issues, insulin resistance and more.
But over the past decade, BPA has largely been phased out and replaced with a different chemical, bisphenol S, or BPS.
We know much less about BPS, such as how it might affect the body and what exposure levels may be safe, said Nancy Hopf, an industrial toxicologist at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.
The risk associated with handling paper receipts quite likely depends on many factors, including how often and for how long you touch them. Here’s what we know.