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Bisphenol A or BPA is a chemical that has been used for decades in the production of hard but light plastics, and has been used in the creation of food and beverage containers, paints, glasses and many other everyday objects. Recent studies have revealed that very high exposure to this compound can have detrimental effects on health. But should we worry about the BPA?
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What is bisphenol A or BPA?
Bisphenol A, better known by its abbreviation BPA, is an organic compound used mostly in the manufacture of everyday plastic objects. We can find it in products such as bottles or bottles of water, CDs, appliances, or any object that uses epoxy resin with bisphenol A, as the coating of almost all cans of food and drink. In addition to these household objects, the BPA is a color developer for thermal paper. This substance, in large concentrations, can be harmful to health.
In addition to the health effects, bisphenol A has negative consequences for the environment, since by recycling this type of paper the BPA is released and can contaminate the rest of the recycling process.
What is the relationship between the BPA and the printing devices?
The use of bisphenol A is not only limited to plastic products, but also part of the composition of the thermal paper developer. This type of paper is generally used in purchase tickets, ATMs, some fax machines or certain types of labels.
I use thermal paper rolls: should I worry about Bisphenol A?
The main problem does not affect both consumers and professionals. Sporadic contact with this substance, in small concentrations, should not be a problem. However, there are professionals who are much more exposed to this substance because of their work, for example, with supermarket tickets, hospitals or factories. For these people who are exposed to higher concentrations, it can be problematic.
The use of bisphenol A is currently legal at European level, but papers with BPA concentrations greater than 0.1% of the total weight must include special instructions for handling. The problem is that these instructions and warnings do not usually reach the people who work with it.
In the market there are different types of thermal paper. Those consumables with BPA concentrations below 0.1% of the total weight do not need to be accompanied by these safety warnings.
The conclusions are clear: Bisphenol A can affect health and the only way to avoid damage is not to be exposed to it intensely and continuously. However, health hazards depend on the level of exposure, so although it is very difficult at present not to come into contact with this substance it is possible to reduce the level of exposure through the use of products, such as rolls of thermal paper, with much lower concentrations available in the market.
Why are tickets removed from thermal paper rolls?
Many people are still surprised and wonder why the purchase tickets that are printed on thermal paper are erased.
How many times have we asked ourselves the reason that because after a while our purchase tickets lose the information that is in them, that important information when it comes to having to present said purchase ticket in case of claim of a guarantee, change some article or any other reasons.
All the thermal paper rolls that we sell and provided that they are kept in the optimal conditions, guarantee the durability of the printing of at least 5 years, legal time at the time of saving information, well once said this we will try to explain how a purchase ticket is printed and why it is deleted.
Thermal paper rolls as the name implies is a type of paper that ticket printers print by heat through their head, it is heated and printed on the ticket by applying heat, therefore there is no ink on the paper. The problem is in the conservation of said ticket, this is because we usually keep it in wallets, car dashboards, plastic folders next to the pharmacy’s recipes or anywhere else where the sun or heat do the rest so that the ticket ends up being completely erased and you lose the information that was printed on it.
In other times it was more common to see matrix printers in all establishments and points of sale that print with ink and in rolls of plain paper known as Electra paper, these matrix ticket printers have gone to the background as kitchens where the heat has not it is a good ally of thermal paper rolls, these matrix ticket printers are being replaced by thermal ticket printers as they are falling apart.
Virtually thermal printers cover 99% of sales and installation of ticket printers in the market, either for a point of sale next to your POS or for secondary bar printers or different jobs within a place. So, remember to keep your important purchase tickets away from light and heat source or plastic-type materials and synthetic skins.
Finally, and in case someone is wondering about the exposure of the suffered cashiers, in this case there is nothing to fear. The account of adding all the seconds of a work day in which a shop worker holds thermal paper tickets does not work. Our body, including that of children and babies, continuously metabolises BPA very effectively transforming it into other compounds, so this substance is only dangerous when a peak of sudden exposure (or constant exposure to dangerous levels) occurs.
Summarising, and as a final message, the results of several studies indicate that the average consumer does not have to worry about the BPA in thermal paper tickets. And as for those who handle them as part of their activity, it is preferable that they do not use hand creams or other products, although even in this case their exposure will always be well below safe levels.
Posmart is the main online provider of 80mm thermal printer paper, we are a reliable POS consumable supplier, contact us!