Assessment of bisphenol A alternatives in paper products from the Chinese market and their dermal exposure in the general population

Abstract Bisphenol A (BPA), a well-known endocrine disruptor, is used as a color developer in thermal paper. More recently, some emerging structural analogues have been introduced to replace BPA due to the strengthened regulations concerning thermal paper. Nevertheless, very limited data are available regarding their occurrence and potential health risks. Here, thirteen potentially toxic compounds were investigated in paper products (120 thermal papers and 81 nonthermal papers) collected in Beijing, China. The results indicated that the replacement of BPA by alternatives such as Bisphenol S (BPS), Bis(2-chloroethyl)ether-4,4″-dihydroxydiphenyl sulfone copolymer (D-90), 4-hydroxyphenyl 4-isoprooxyphenylsulfone (D-8), Bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)sulfonylphenyl (BPS-MAE) and Bis-(3-allyl-4-hydroxyphenyl) sulfone (TGSA) has been significantly advanced in several types of thermal paper ( i.e., market weight stickers, train tickets, express labels, air boarding passes and lottery tickets). The mean value for the total analyte concentrations in thermal paper was 6.06 mg/g, and the highest level found was 26.0 mg/g. In addition, the frequent detection of these chemicals in nonthermal paper (>80%, n  = 81) demonstrated that the contamination in thermal paper can be spread into other recycled paper, such as corrugated boxes, newspapers, food contact papers, etc. The estimated daily intake of BPA and its alternatives through the handling of thermal paper was 0.025 μg/kg bw/day for the general population. This is the first report on the occurrence of various new BPA alternatives in paper products from China, which will be helpful for further risk assessment and making responsible replacement decisions.