You may be exposing yourself to toxic cancer-causing bisphenol A (BPA) on a daily basis if you’re handling receipts from a variety of stores. While this has been known for quite some time, lawmakers in Illonois are now moving to ban the health threatening BPA. If legislators fully act and require stores to halt the usage of BPA-laced receipts, it could lead to nationwide changes being made in the fight against BPA contamination.

Introduced by State Rep. Karen May, the Illonois legislation is actually long overdue. It has been known for years that BPA can cause diabetes, artery hardening, and even infertility! Representative May explains that BPA on paper receipts are particularly of concern due to the fact that the BPA content of the receipts can actually rub off on your fingers. After rubbing off on your fingers, the BPA will go through your skin and enter your body. Hand washing is also virtually ineffective at removing it. For cashiers and customers alike, this is very concerning.

“It’s especially important because it rubs off on your fingers,” May says. “It’s a class of chemicals called endocrine disrupters, and they really do nasty things to our body.”

The legislation is a step in the right direction, as BPA is heavily ubiquitous among the food supply. Present in everything from canned goods to global currencies, this toxic chemical has been allowed by regulators to enter the food supply and now legislators must move to solve this issue.

Until this legislation is carried across the United States and elsewhere, natural solutions do exist to rid your body of BPA and reverse many of the harmful effects. I encourage you to read an article I wrote back in 2011 entitled The BPA Solution, which outlines how a total of 13 completely natural and health-promoting substances can help restore your body to optimal health and fight back against BPA toxicity.