Appleton, the only producer of BPA-free thermal receipt paper in the United States, announced Monday it has added easy-to-see red fibers to its paper.
In July 2010, laboratory tests commissioned by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a consumer group, found high levels of BPA on 40 percent of receipts sampled from major U.S. businesses and services, including outlets of McDonald's, CVS, KFC, Whole Foods, WalMart, Safeway and the U.S. Postal Service.
The chemical is used to coat the thermal paper used to print receipts used by major retailers, grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, fast-food restaurants, post offices and ATMs and are handled by millions of Americans every day.
Until now, consumers had no way to know exactly whether the receipts they received contained BPA or not since not every receipt contained it. The EWG study found receipts from Target, Starbucks, Bank of America ATMs and other important enterprises were BPA-free or contained only trace amounts.
Appleton says the red fibers will be in about 75% of the thermal receipt paper that they ship by the end of November. Appleton expects to have the red fibers in all of its thermal receipt paper before the end of first quarter 2011.
Appleton dropped BPA from its thermal paper formulation in 2006 out of growing concerns about the safety of the chemical.
"Four years ago, after reviewing toxicology reports and available studies, Appleton acted quickly to remove BPA from its thermal products," said Kent Willetts, Appleton's vice president of strategic development.
"We are committed to actively managing the safety of all our products and removing BPA was the responsible thing to do," said Willetts.
In the last few years, concerns over BPA have grown. In January 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expressed concern about the potential adverse health effects of BPA in infants and children, especially for applications with direct contact to food.
Appleton found a solution to the BPA-problem in its security papers business.
"We took technology that is used for authenticating documents like bank checks, and we applied it to thermal receipt paper," Willetts explained.
The new receipts from Appleton are good for the environment, too.
The small red fibers are made of rayon, a recyclable cellulose fiber that is more biodegradable than cotton. The thermal receipt paper itself is also recyclable.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency invited Appleton representatives to participate in a partnership program called Design for the Environment, which involves multi-stakeholder alternative assessments to help reduce environmental releases of, and subsequent exposure to, BPA.
The first assessment focuses on finding safer alternatives to BPA for use as a developer for dyes in thermal paper.
