Why using recycled toilet paper is dangerous to your health, and three green, nontoxic and sustainable alternatives to consider instead.
Like many of you good little girls and boys out there trying to be responsible citizens of Planet Earth, I bought recycled toilet paper in an attempt to be more environmentally conscious.
Alas.
This method of going green in the bathroom is not such a good idea after all. In fact, it is a most decidedly BAD idea.
Green does not necessarily mean healthy!
Recycled Toilet Paper is Toxic
Two studies published in Environmental Science & Technology have shown that BPA and cousin chemical BPS used in “BPA free products” but also highly estrogenic in nature, are much more pervasive in our common, everyday products than we could have imagined.
Yeah, that BPA free stuff is no better and will mess up your hormones just as much. But then, you sensed that was the case already didn’t you? I know I did.
The term “safe chemical” is kind of an oxymoron. If a product contains chemicals, just assume they are toxic unless proven otherwise.
How does all this relate to recycled toilet paper?
Hormone Disruptors in Recycled Paper
These two studies involved examination of hundreds of samples of paper from everyday items such as toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, newspapers, magazines, tickets, and even business cards.
Most of the paper samples tested contained the hormone disruptors BPA, BPS or BOTH.
How and why the paper was so contaminated is a question that requires further study to ascertain.
But for now, the key is to avoid thermal paper as much as possible. This stuff is the worst offender perhaps because it is often recycled and may somehow become contaminated during the reclamation process.
The ink itself may also be a culprit in the overall toxicity of recycled toilet paper.
In fact, it is best to avoid touching all recycled paper period! Sister chemicals BPA and BPS absorb very readily through the skin.
You don’t have to eat it to have them enter your bloodstream.
If your job involves handling thermal paper receipts, for example, best to wear gloves. And, if you can turn down receipts and instead rely on an online itemization of your expenditures, that would be a good step as well.
TP Used for Thin Skin Near Reproductive Areas
As for your backside, opt for toilet paper made from virgin pulp or better still, bamboo toilet paper.
This is an especially important area to protect from BPA and BPS as the skin in these areas is thin and delicate.
This means that the chemicals can more easily enter the bloodstream with very close proximity to the reproductive organs.
Green AND Safe Options to Toilet Paper
If you don’t want to change habits right now, at least switch to bamboo toilet paper (I suggest this brand). It is nontoxic and sustainably produced.
If you really want to go green with your toilet habits, skip the toilet paper entirely and invest in a bidet attachment for your toilet. They are very reasonably priced and easy to install.
If this European method of saving trees doesn’t work for you, your other option is to go the reusable TP cloths route.
Any of these approaches makes for a sanitary, nontoxic and sustainable bathroom experience.
Reference
(1) Bottom Line Publications, Toxic Toilet Paper? You Got It
It would be great to read those two studies. Can you supply more information so I can read them?
Cheers
Lola
Who knew?
I wonder, does that have to do with the paper being bleached, white, soft? what is with the old style toilet-paper they still have in Germany? It’s also made with recycled paper and it’s grey, not very soft, some think it’s kinda rough but I never had a issue with it. Maybe the solution would be to have old fashioned toilet paper, unbleached. Maybe that paper has no BPA? Trying to understand why BPA is in the paper, in what part of the manufacturing process. I never understood that paper which goes down the toilet needs to be so soft and white. all you do with it, is wipe yourself.
Folks, don’t worry about the planet being “deforested”, at least not here in the US where we use an abundance of paper, including that for our backsides. There is more timber in the US now than 100 years ago due to improvements in agriculture that grows more food on less land than 100 years ago (then, all cleared land to grow their own); and the fact that we have improvements in forest management that allows us to grow more timber per acre than ever before. (If you are convinced that global warming is a reality; the increased nightime temperatures and increased atmospheric CO2 should result in even greater forest growth rates!) With the downturn of the housing market in 2007; and the decline in the need for new homes, it is estimated that the available sawtimber in the Southeast alone will double by 2020 even if we have an economic turnaround right now and return to the peak harvest levels of 2008. You want to talk about recycling, timberland is recycled generation after generation. I have been a forester for 25 years and have seen trees that I planted myself being thinned in the next rotation.
Dear Bill,
You are on drugs. Deforestation is a global issue. South America, Africa and Asia called to tell you that stagnation in North American deforestation rates can go fly a kite.
With love,
Reality
Global warming is real, first off. Secondly, by recycling one ton of toilet paper you save 17 trees, 6953 gallons of water, 463 gallons of oil, 587 pounds of air pollution,3.06 cubic yards of landfill space, and 4077 Kilowatt hours of energy. I think it’s better to be careful and sustainable with resources rather than assume they are never ending and deplete them until we have no planet left.
Why use trees? What about bamboo or hemp for paper?
A not insignificant portion of the population is allergic to hemp, a very strong fiber which does not break down easily- so that makes it a pretty poor material for disposable or even reusable toilet paper. As for bamboo, which is not a woody, pulpable tree but a fibrous grass, I think the word “splinters” covers that fairly well.
You seriously think there are splinters in bamboo toilet paper?
Cloth wipes, just like cloth baby diapers, are not the answer either. They have to be washed, sometimes multiple times and if they aren’t really really clean, you’ve got bacteria to worry about.
Why don’t we stop all the hysteria and just use 1 ply toilet paper. It solves lots of problems because it literally disintegrates when it hits the water. You can use three times as much paper and still not plug up the plumbing because it just sorta melts away. It’s not usually made with BPA or BPS, check the label or the packaging. All the treehuggers just make me giggle because trees can be replanted – anywhere. I agree that cutting down rainforests is a horrid idea, but using something different than toilet paper isn’t really going to change what those companies are doing.
Also, think about what happens when you have diarrhea. You’re gonna use cloth wipes?? I can understand using some water or whatever but I’m just not up to handling cloth wipes. =8-o
Wow. It is getting to seem that just about everything is full of dangerous chemicals. This is valuable knowledge to have. Thanks again, Sarah. You put Paul Revere to shame!
the words “recycled” and “toilet paper” should never be used together. EVER. LOL
I guess the people of Cuba have inadvertently had it good all these years as I’ve been told that each family is issued only 1 roll of TP per year! Don’t know if this is still true, but it used to be apparently.
good ol’ gentle soap and water will save you the worries.