Overview

The California Prohibiting Bisphenols in Receipts Act of 2026 (AB 1604), authored by Assembly member Catherine Stefani (D – San Francisco), bans the intentional use of bisphenol chemicals in thermal paper receipts.   

Most thermal receipt paper is coated with a bisphenol chemical, which when heated, reacts with ink to produce the printing. Because it is a powder coating, people handling receipts are easily exposed. Thermal receipt paper used to be made mostly with bisphenol A or BPA, a chemical known to mimic estrogen in our bodies. The industry has now largely moved to using bisphenol S or BPS, which has many of the same health concerns – a clear case of a “regrettable substitution.” 

Bisphenols are hormone disrupting chemicals that have toxic effects on reproduction and have been linked to various serious health effects, including breast cancer, prostate cancer, obesity, Type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, ovarian cysts, and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, and other fertility impairments [1]. AB 1604 aims to protect people in California by reducing direct exposure to bisphenols from handling receipts. The bill will also reduce bisphenol contamination of the environment from paper mills producing thermal paper for receipts, bisphenol contamination of recycled paper products, such as napkins and toilet paper.

The bill sets a deadline of January 1, 2027, by which manufacturers and companies must stop using paper receipts that contain intentionally added BPA.  By January 2028, manufacturers and companies must stop using paper receipts that contain all intentionally added bisphenol chemicals.  

• Testing of receipts in 2023 [2] showed 80% of receipts are coated with toxic bisphenols, which get absorbed through the skin into the body. 
• Although all consumers are exposed, cashiers have significantly higher levels of bisphenol A and S exposure.  Because the vast majority of cashiers are women of childbearing age, they are at greater risk for harmful reproductive impacts.   
• A report from 2023 showed that 20% of receipts do not contain any bisphenols, demonstrating that alternatives without these toxic chemicals are already widely available [2].  
• Washington State has banned intentionally added bisphenols in thermal (receipt) paper [4], and bisphenol A has been banned in receipts in Connecticut, Illinois, and the European Union. 
• The bisphenol coating on receipts cannot be removed, so receipts are contaminating the paper recycling stream with bisphenols. Some recycled paper products like napkins and toilet paper have been found to have bisphenols.

Contact

Nancy Buermeyer, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners Director of Program & Policy

Co-Sponsoring Organizations:

BCPP is co-sponsoring this legislation with Californians Against Waste.

Supporting Organizations:

• 350 BayAreaAction
• 350 Contra Costa Action
• American Sustainable Business Network
• Ban SUP (Single Use Plastic)
• Between the Waters
• Beyond Plastics
• Blue Ocean Warriors
• California Climate Action Now!
• California Communities Against Toxics
• California Health Coalition Advocacy
• California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC)
• California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG)
• Clean Water Action
• CleanEarth4Kids.org
• Climate Realty Project Orange County Chapter
• Community Environmental Council
• Courage California
• EARTHDAY.ORG
• Endangered Habitats League
• Environmental Action Committee of West Marin
• Families Advocating for Chemical and Toxics Safety
• Friends Committee on Legislation of California
• Glendale Environmental Coalition
• Just Zero
• Last Beach Clean Up
• Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC)
• Pacific Environment
• Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles
• Plastic Pollution Coalition
• San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility
• San Francisco Baykeeper
• Santa Cruz Climate Action Network
• Sunrise Bay Area
• The Last Plastic Straw
• The Story of Stuff Project
• Yosemite Rivers Alliance
• Zero Waste Ithaca
• Zero Waste San Diego

Footnotes 

[1] Vom Saal FS, Vandenberg LN. Update on the Health Effects of Bisphenol A: Overwhelming Evidence of Harm. Endocrinology. 2021 Mar 1;162(3):bqaa171. doi: 10.1210/endocr/bqaa171. PMID: 33516155; PMCID: PMC7846099. 

[2] “Receipt Deceit: Toxic Chemicals in Receipt Paper” Ecology Center, 2023 https://www.ecocenter.org/our-work/healthy-stuff-lab/reports/receipt-deceit-toxic-chemicals-receipt-paper 

[3] “Touching 1 Receipt for 10 Seconds Results in Exposure to the Chemical BPS Above the Safe Limit.” Center for Environmental Health. 2025 https://ceh.org/latest/press-releases/touching-1-receipt-for-10-seconds-results-in-exposure-to-the-chemical-bps-above-the-safe-limit/ 

[4] https://www.saferstates.org/press-room/washington-states-first-in-the-nation-ban-on-toxic-bisphenols-in-receipts-takes-effect/
https://www.commerce.wa.gov/washington-state-eliminates-harmful-chemicals-from-thermal-receipts/