

Kill Plastic Before It Kills You: Receipts are actually toxic - thinkcomp
http://www.killplasticbeforeitkillsyou.com

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phren0logy
Man, trying to astroturf your payment system by fear-mongering thorough HN?
Classy.

In the right dose, everything is toxic. Even water. I'd like to have fewer
receipts, but this is just a misleading site, and a stupid message. I'd rather
you try to sell you tech on its own merits.

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thinkcomp
We link to respected news sources, a paper in Analytical and Bioanalytical
Chemistry, and our competitors. This isn't fearmongering. It's true.

I handle a lot of receipts running a business and so do a lot of other
entrepreneurs. If you don't care, that's fine. Other people might.

Also, your argument that all things are equally toxic in enough quantity is
nonsensical.

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phren0logy
From the journal article linked:

> "If this BPA ends up in the human metabolism, exposure of a person
> repeatedly touching thermal printer paper for 10 h/day, such as at a cash
> register, could reach 71 μg/day, which is 42 times less than the present
> tolerable daily intake (TDI)."

Dose is everything in toxicology. That's why I mentioned water. Literally
everything is toxic in the right dose, but I never said that all things are
equally toxic.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication>

It's not an issue of caring or not caring, it's an issue of hyping a threat
that doesn't seem to be present, and asking people to contact lawmakers about
it. You may have a very fine product. This is not, in my medical opinion, a
reasonable way to go about promoting it.

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thinkcomp
The next sentence in the journal article reads "However, if more than just the
finger pads contact the BPA-containing paper or a hand cream enhances
permeability of the skin, this margin might be smaller." The paper earlier
mentions that moisture can increase uptake by a factor of 10.

The TDI as it currently stands was presumably established before this research
and other related research was done. You are assuming that its current level
is correct, which in my opinion, isn't a very good assumption.

Your analogy to water intoxication remains puzzling to me. The typical cashier
or accounting clerk might reasonably touch thermal paper receipts 10 hours per
day, and use hand lotion. The typical cashier would not typically drink 20
liters or more of water per day to the point of experiencing water toxicity.

The point is that it is not unreasonable to voice concern over this issue.

