Cash register receipts: Too toxic to touch?

Some of America's biggest retailers are handing out receipts that — according to new lab tests — contain the controversial carcinogen BPA

The next time a cashier hands you a receipt at Walmart, Whole Foods, or McDonald's, you may want to think twice before touching it. In a neurosis-inducing study commissioned by the Environmental Working Group, 40 percent of cash register receipts printed on heat-activated paper were found to contain the dangerous chemical Bisphenol A (BPA). The alleged risk for cashiers, who handle hundreds of receipts per day, is even higher. (Watch a local report about BPA in receipts.) Here, a quick guide to this unseen danger:

What is BPA?

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