TITLE:
The Presence of Bisphenol A in Thermal Paper Receipts, and Its Extraction in Three Media: Water, Sanitizers, and Artificial Perspiration (Sweat)
AUTHORS:
Sultan M. Sufyani, Abdulaziz M. Aljohani, Ahmed S. Alyamani, Manar A. Alshammri, Manal H. Theeb, Sondos A. J. Almahmoud, Abdulrahman G. Alhamzani
KEYWORDS:
Bisphenol A, Thermal Paper Receipts, LC-MS Mass, HPLC, Artificial Perspiration
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Analytical Mass Spectrometry and Chromatography,
Vol.14 No.2,
May
14,
2026
ABSTRACT: Bisphenol A (BPA) is a synthetic chemical commonly found in thermal paper receipts, which are widely used in various sectors such as supermarkets, gas stations, and ATMs. BPA is known to have adverse effects on human health, including endocrine disruption, reproductive toxicity, neurobehavioral disorders, and carcinogenicity. This study aims to evaluate different extraction methods to identify the optimal ratio for recovering BPA from thermal paper receipts in the Saudi Arabian market. Using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), we compared six extraction solutions: distilled water, distilled water/methanol (30:70), artificial acidic sweat/methanol (50:50), artificial alkaline sweat/methanol (50:50), artificial acidic sweat, and artificial alkaline sweat. Our findings indicate that the 30:70 distilled water/methanol and 50:50 artificial alkaline sweat/methanol solutions provided the highest BPA recovery, suggesting these ratios as the most effective for BPA extraction.