An example on your fingertips

The news that most thermal cash register receipt paper is coated with bisphenol-A receives such little notice, that when a tiny syndicated column mentioning it did surface last Sunday, I realized I had forgotten it since it had first come out over a year ago:

BPA also coats the paper that many store receipts are printed on. It comes off on hands. Consumers should decline receipts, or handle them with care and wash their hands afterward. Children should never be allowed to handle these receipts." Research has confirmed that register receipts often contain BPA that can be absorbed through the skin

Seattle Times 

Connecticut banned recipt paper with BPA last year, hopefully more will follow.

There already are alternatives. Several manufacturers make BPA-free paper, but rolls marketed by Appleton have visible red fibers added to the paper so you can easily tell the difference.

Appleton dropped BPA in 2006, following the lead of manufacturers in Japan.

Presumably manufactuers still using BPA are letting the free-market decide, in the meantime leaving us to guess what kind of receipt paper we're getting.

Gosh -- wouldn't it be great if such decisions were based on science, rather than manufacturer cost which passes the health costs on to the rest of us.