BPA: On The Money
To generate media attention on behalf of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, Ripple came up with the idea for them to conduct a study on BPA (Bisphenol A) on dollar bills. The report found this dangerous chemical – linked to cancer, infertility, diabetes and obesity – on 95% of the bills tested, most likely from rubbing against thermal receipt paper in people’s wallets. Our media release of this report, strategically timed around holiday shopping season, resulted in over 350 TV stories on CNN Headline News, ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox stations around the country. Other media highlights included the FRONT PAGE of San Francisco Chronicle, FRONT PAGE of Huffington Post, MSNBC, AOL News, Time Magazine, US News & World Report, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, AFP, NPR, Seattle Post, UPI, CBS Radio, Yahoo Health, Science News, Chemical Watch, TreeHugger, WebMD and massive international coverage. The intention of this report was to highlight the ubiquity of BPA as just one of many unregulated toxic chemicals that we are exposed to on a daily basis due to our failed federal chemicals policy – the Toxic Substances Control Act. Many of the stories mentioned this outdated policy and the urgent need for reform.