Environmental Working Group did a study on paper receipts from various places and found BPA on 40 percent of them. Sometimes in amounts over 1000 times that found in the lining of cans. One thousand times?! How can that be allowed?

Think about it, we’re worried about drinking water from BPA containing water bottles and how that will get ingested and affect us. Here are receipts that we carry around for quite awhile sometimes, that we touch many times, many people and they contain even more BPA. I know I’m guilty of handing the receipt to my little ones as we exit a store, unknowingly exposing them to even more BPA than the water bottles I refuse to allow them to use.

Think about the store workers that spend all day handing out those receipts. What about business owners with stacks of receipts for tax purposes? How about the accountant? What other papers contain BPA?

I’m going to quote this paragraph from washingtonpost.com because I feel it really gets the point across:

Among those surveyed, receipts from Safeway supermarkets contained the highest concentration of BPA. A receipt taken from a store in the District contained 41 milligrams of the chemical. If the equivalent amount of BPA was ingested by a 155-pound adult, that would exceed EPA’s decades-old safe exposure limit for BPA by 12 times.

This very long article is worth a read. There’s also information about what store receipts were tested and what they contained. A study was released that shows that BPA does penetrate the skin, so we know we’re absorbing it from our receipts. EWG simply used a wet wipe on the receipt and then tested the BPA content. If it was that easy to transfer to the wipe, it’s that easy to transfer to our hands.

The type of receipts that contain BPA are thermal paper receipts. To check your receipt, rub it with a coin. Thermal paper will discolor, while normal paper does not. This type of paper is commonly used for store receipts, prescription labels, lottery and airline tickets.

Sometimes I feel like we should all just live in a bubble. Maybe I should drop my lottery habit.

I use Environmental Working Group’s Cosmetics Safety Database (also known as Skin Deep) to find safer products for my family. If you’ve been following me, you know I spend a lot of time moving the chemicals out and the safe stuff in. Take some time and check the products you use often, you’ll be surprised at how many are linked to cancer. As Annie says, don’t let the words “natural” or “organic” fool you. Currently, there is no law regulating cosmetics and that needs to change.

Along with Annie, I encourage you to join the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. Let’s make our products safe. Democracy in Action makes it super easy for you to let your elected officials know that you want them to support the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010. Please go send your message! Then spread the word about Annie’s film to your friends and family and get them to pass the message on as well.

Go, watch, NOW!

This is not a reason to stop consuming fruits and veggies, but this is a reason to go organic when you can. Organic produce contains less, if any, pesticides. Regardless, you should always wash your produce before consuming. We prefer to use Veggie Wash, but even washing with plain water is better than nothing at all.

Many of us can’t afford to go organic all the way, all the time. Check out our printable PDF that lists which fruits and veggies you should definitely buy organic and which are okay to skimp on.

Ginger
Ginger has been used for centuries for various ailments. There’s no reason to stop using it now. Ginger is great for Ovarian and Colon Cancer treatment, motion and morning sickness, pain and inflammation, heartburn, migraines, cold and flu, even menstrual cramping. How many times have you had Ginger Ale when you weren’t feeling well?!

You can add ginger when you’re cooking or make a tea. Steep a bit of ginger in hot water, add honey and lemon to taste. My son was miserable one night from seasonal allergies. He was in the midst of a panic attack because he just could not breathe well enough. We made ginger tea for him and it worked almost instantly.

Arnica
Arnica is a plant best used externally. It’s great for sprains, bruises, wounds, but can be irritating to the stomach. It’s fairly easy to find an Arnica based cream at local health food store. I recently used arnica after falling on ice and spraining my wrist.

Capsaicin
Oh how we love capsaicin! Capsaicin is the active ingredient in chili peppers and believe it or not, is a great pain reliever. Capsaicin is available as a cream or gel that you can use externally. Or, our favorite is a nasal spray. The spray is excellent for relief of allergies and migraines. Capsaicin can knock out a migraine in minutes. I highly recommend Sinol nasal spray.

Aloe
Not to be left out is aloe. We all know that aloe is the best remedy for a sunburn, but what about scrapes and cuts? It’s perfect for that as well as mosquito bites and other ailments. Aloe is available in many forms from capsules to lotion and juice. The best and cheapest way to use aloe is directly from the plant. Aloe is one of the easiest to grow plants and it’s always there when you need it. Just break off a bit of one of the leaves and apply to the skin.