ACSH staffers had a good chuckle when the less-than-credible U.K. Telegraph posited last month that shopping could lead to male impotence because BPA has been found in some register receipts. But now the Washington Post has picked up on the issue with an article about how the Environmental Working Group found the demon chemical on 40 percent of the receipts it collected from stores, ATMs and gas stations.
"I was just astonished that the Washington Post took that seriously," says Dr. Whelan. "That carrying around a receipt in your wallet could disperse BPA to your environment. It was insane. In fact, the whole crusade against 'toxic chemicals' is a psychiatric issue, not a scientific one."
"After reading that article I would, with reckless abandon, take my receipt and return the Washington Post to get my money back," adds ACSH's Jeff Stier.
