Appleton, which has a thermal paper mill in West Carrollton, dropped BPA from its production of thermal paper four years ago, the company said late Thursday.
Appleton makes most of its thermal paper, which is often used for cash register and credit card receipts, at its 1030 W. Alex-Bell Road plant, which has more than 400 employees, the company said. Bill Van Den Brandt, a spokesman for Appleton, Wisc.,-based Appleton, said the company felt a statement on the matter was timely.
“We issued the release because there has been significant media interest in the latest study about BPA, issued (Wednesday), that claims that BPA-containing receipts contaminate U.S. paper currency,” Van Den Brandt told the Dayton Daily News in an e-mail.
“We wanted to remind national media outlets that a BPA-free alternative exists, and that Appleton is the only one that makes it.”
In 2007 and 2008, Appleton invested $100 million in the local plant to expand its thermal paper production.
Early last month, the company said, it began embedding red fibers of rayon, a recyclable fiber, into its thermal paper in order to “help consumers and retail workers quickly identify the kind of thermal receipt paper they are handling.” The fibers are a way to distinguish Appleton’s paper from paper made by other companies.
The study said BPA has also been found in canned foods.
“Researchers found that half of the thermal paper receipts tested had large quantities of unbound BPA; 95 percent of the dollar bills tested positive for lower amounts,” the coalition said in a statement released Wednesday.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.
About the Author
