Retailers that use receipts containing the chemical Bisphenol S are facing legal action by the Center for Environmental Health.
California environmental health activists have threatened lawsuits against 90 retailers since the beginning of the year, asserting their receipts contain high levels of a chemical that allegedly disturbs hormone functions.
The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) reported on May 2 that it had notified 38 retailers operating in the state under California’s controversial toxic chemical warning law that their use of thermal-paper receipts contain high levels of Bisphenol S, or BPS. The full list of the 90 retailers that have been notified since Jan. 1 includes Burger King, Subway and Office Depot.
California authorities added BPS to a list of chemicals it had determined causes reproductive issues in humans in late 2023. The chemical eventually came under Propositions 65 provisions, which require businesses to either phase out the chemical in their products or provide label warnings saying their products contain the harmful chemical.
California law allows private groups to file civil actions against businesses that use such chemicals without informing customers of potential hazards. The CEH’s warning includes a 60-day notice saying the parties have violated the state Health & Safety Code by failing to provide clear warnings about the receipts.
“CEH intends to file a citizen enforcement lawsuit against the alleged violators unless such violators agree in a binding written instrument to: (1) provide clear and reasonable warnings for products sold or otherwise provided to consumers in the future or reformulate such products to eliminate the BPS exposures; and (2) pay an appropriate civil penalty based on the factors enumerated in (the) California Health and Safety Code …” the CEH’s Notice of Violation states.
Testing by an independent lab showed that the concentration of BPS on the receipts was so elevated that touching one for only 10 seconds could result in exposure that exceeds the threshold mandating a consumer warning, according to CEH.
BPS began to be used as an alternative chemical for thermal-paper receipts after a previously used chemical, Bisphenol A, was also found to be problematic for human health..
“For more than two decades, CEH has ensured that companies and manufacturers that remove one toxic chemical from their products do not replace it with another regrettable substitute like a toxic shell game,” Kizzy Charles-Guzman, the center’s CEO, said in a prepared statement. “These companies have the opportunity to improve their product specifications so that the receipt paper they purchase is safe for their workers and customers.”
CEH recommends that consumers decline to accept printed receipts and to seek emailed ones instead. The center also advises workers who handle such receipts to wear gloves to avoid dermal absorption of the chemical and not to use alcohol-based hand cleaners, which can accelerate the intake of BPS through the skin.
“Receipts are made from thermal paper which shouldn’t be recycled because they contain bisphenols like BPA and BPS, that can contaminate the recycling stream and pose health and environmental risks,” Shakoora Azimi-Gaylon, senior director of CEH’s Toxic Exposures and Pollution Prevention Program, said.
In its Notice of Violation, CEH also advised retailers to preserve all evidence that may be related to the issue of BPS use on receipts, including electronic messages and data, pending a resolution of the legal action.
Some companies now manufacture thermal paper coated with vitamin C as a nonhazardous alternative to BPS.
A professional organization that represents some of the companies targeted by the CEH action did not respond to a request for comment.
