On 3/2/2016 7:04 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 3/1/2016 11:01 PM, Muggles wrote:
On 3/1/2016 9:51 PM, wrote:
My wife doesn't use her fax machine any more, and we have 4 brand-new
rolls of thermal fax paper to figure out what to do with. I hate to
just throw it out in the recycle bin. Anyone have any polite ideas
what I can do with it??
Shred it, and use it as bedding for a red wiggler worm compost bin.
Compost all of your veggie stuff in it and then use the compost in your
garden or flower pots this spring.
Thermal paper is coated with BPA. I don't want that in my garden
compost, but you can make your own choice what to eat.
“BPA has been proven to cause reproductive defects in fetuses, infants,
children, and adults as well as cancer, metabolic, and immune problems
in rodents,” said study author Frederick vom Saal, a professor of
biology at the University of Missouri.
hmmm Sorry. I didn't even notice the "thermal" part. I just saw FAX
paper. It was late when I responded to the post.
I did some research on BPA and thermal paper, and found 2 interesting
articles:
...........
"Disposing of thermal paper in the trash provides at least some time and
opportunity for BPA to break down within a landfill (though the
anaerobic conditions in many landfills often do not favor breakdown).
Ultimately, landfill leachate should be collected and treated, which
will further reduce BPA levels. While leachate treatment will still emit
some BPA to surface waters, this is preferable to recycling BPA through
paper use and re-use.
Many communities now accept paper products and food waste in community
collection programs. If thermal paper receipts end up in a composting
process, BPA would likely be present in compost or compost tea. These
additions may be inadvertent, for example, in Seattle, shredded paper
can be added to food waste. Households shred mostly financial papers, so
these may at times include credit card and other thermal receipts. In
2002, a German study reported two measurements of BPA in “compost water
samples,” at 24.8 and 145.9 micrograms per liter (21). These levels are
again much larger than normal concentrations in food and beverage
sources. In general, the short half-life of BPA in soil suggests that
*these levels would be reduced by aerobic processes* fairly quickly
after application, but the exposure risk is probably best avoided by
keeping thermal papers out of materials for compost."
http://pprc.org/index.php/2015/pprc/...t-contain-bpa/
...........
"Thermal paper again is assessed as being a major source for the
contamination of recycled paper products with BPA. Because of the
distinct contamination with xenoestrogens, both paper waste and recycled
paper products should not be mixed with biological waste
e.g. for co-composting or co-fermentation in order to derive organic
fertilisers. "
http://www.witpress.com/Secure/elibr.../WM04029FU.pdf
............
One article hints that BPA would be reduced by aerobic processes, and
the other says to avoid it altogether for composting. I read a couple
other short articles that said the jury was out on whether or not it was
safe to compost, but some said it would deteriorate in land fills, and
other articles said BPA would/could leach into the underground water.
The second article I referenced mentions how toilet paper ends up with
having a lot of BPA in it due to recycled thermal paper being used to
make the TP.
--
Maggie