WASHINGTON - Laboratory tests commissioned by Environmental Working Group (EWG) have found high levels of the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol A (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. Receipts from Target, Starbucks, Bank of America ATMs and other enterprises were BPA-free or contained only trace amounts.

The total amounts of BPA on receipts tested were 250 to 1,000 times greater than other, more widely discussed sources of BPA exposure, including canned foods, baby bottles and infant formula. A significant portion of the public may also be exposed to BPA by handling receipts. Since many retailers do not use BPA-laden thermal paper, this particular route of exposure is easy to correct.

BPA, a plastic hardener and synthetic estrogen linked by researchers to a long list of serious health problems, is used to coat thermal paper used by major retailers, grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, fast-food restaurants, post offices and automatic teller machines (ATMs). The chemical reacts with dye to form black print on receipts handled by millions of Americans every day.

"A typical employee at any large retailer who runs the register could handle hundreds of the contaminated receipts in a single day at work," said Jane Houlihan, EWG senior vice president for research, in a press release. "While we do not know exactly what this means for people??s health, it??s just one more path of exposure to this chemical that seems to bombard every single person."

However, not everyone agreed with the EWG??s findings. The American Chemistry Council countered by saying BHA concerns have been blown out of proportion. "Biomonitoring data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control shows that exposure to BPA from all sources, which would include typical exposure from receipts, is extremely low," read a statement from the council in the San Francisco Chronicle.