Is there BPA in my receipt? And is that bad?
Hey. I'm Melissa.
Jam:I'm Jam.
Melissa:And I'm a chemist. And I'm not. And welcome to chemistry for your life.
Jam:The podcast helps you understand the chemistry of your everyday life. And if this is one of your first times listening to our podcast, when we say that Melissa is a chemist. She really is.
Melissa:I really am.
Jam:She has her master's in chemistry.
Melissa:That's right.
Jam:She currently teaches.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:She's getting her PhD. Yep. And I don't do any of those things. I'm very much not a chemist in any way, shape, or form.
Melissa:That's true.
Jam:And every week, Melissa teaches me something about chemistry live, and I learn it with you.
Melissa:That's right. He doesn't even know the topic of today's episode. So right now, you know more than him because you saw the title. Well, I'll tell you what our topic is gonna be today.
Jam:Okay. Please do.
Melissa:It's BPA part 2.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So Thanks to our listener, Rebecca Tee. She wrote in and asked what does it mean if something is BPA free. Mhmm. And I learned a little bit more about BPA than I expected.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And I coincidentally or not coincidentally because Instagram kind of buys. Mhmm. Saw some people talking about BPA being in your receipts.
Jam:Oh, shoot.
Melissa:Like, the paper ones that you get at the store.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And what I found was really interesting and I think worth sharing.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So we're in it now.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Okay. So remember a long, long time ago, and if you don't remember this, stop right now and go back and listen to this episode and then come back. We talked about how color changing mugs change color.
Jam:Yes. But I don't have the ability to go back and listen to the episode.
Melissa:No. You don't. I'll do a quick reminder.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:There was a die Mhmm. And it had a developer with it.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And when the temperature Heated up. The developer was able to give away protons, which basically changed the acidity is what happened. Okay. And that's what made the dye go from colorless to black or black to colorless or whatever.
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:Okay. Well, heat receipts work the same way. If you're printing receipt on thermal paper and you don't have an ink ribbon or anything, which It's convenient because then you don't have to worry about replacing an ink ribbon when you're doing a receipt at, you know, a grocery store or a restaurant. Uh-huh. That's that works the same way.
Melissa:So there is a dye on that paper that's colorless until I think they have small pins that are heat applicant applications that cause happen with a developer that's present also on the paper. Mhmm. And that is how you get the words to appear on thermal paper without ever using ink.
Jam:Wow. That's awesome.
Melissa:That in itself could be an episode, but since we kind of already did that episode on color changing mugs, I just Think it would be better to focus on something else here.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:A different major chemistry lesson. Although that is also chemistry for your life.
Jam:Okay. Got it.
Melissa:So it turns out that in a lot of those systems, the developer that's with the dye that that donates the protons or changes the acidity or whatever is BPA.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Or something similar to BPA. One of those derivatives we talked about Mhmm. Called BPS. Okay. Similar negative qualities as BPA.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:BPA is cheap and it's easy to make. Mhmm. But it exists on these receipts as the monomer form, not the polymer form.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So it's even more free to go into our bodies.
Jam:Oh, dang. That's not good.
Melissa:Yeah. If it's in the polymer, it's sort of locked into this infrastructure, And maybe there's some monomers floating around after the plastic has been made, or maybe it breaks down when it's in the sun, you know, degrades. But This just has the monomer out and about.
Jam:Got it. Got it. Dang.
Melissa:So it's getting all over our hands.
Jam:Dang. Interesting.
Melissa:Yeah. So I found a few studies where researchers were really just trying to determine What our primary exposure to BPA is, if it's from ingesting foods that have it, like, from our water bottles or from Canned foods or whatever Mhmm. Or if it's from dermal contact with our skin. Mhmm. Well, That is difficult.
Melissa:Sort of how we talked about studying urine in a pool is difficult
Jam:Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:Everybody already has BPA in their
Jam:System. Right.
Melissa:So if you're testing secretions, urine, they say urine or serum for BPA Uh-huh. It's not really gonna tell you a whole lot because you already have BPA.
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:So they had to find a way to specifically mark or label molecules at BPA so they could tell what was coming from what.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Sort of, you know, how you mark birds in the wild or something to see if whether migration patterns are or whatever, scientists will do that? Yeah. I don't actually know why they mark birds. I don't know why I said that with such confidence, but I know scientists do mark birds, I don't know if it's to study migration patterns or diseases or what. Yeah.
Melissa:I guess that has always been my assumption, but I'm gonna call out my own assumption there and say, I think it's to study that, but I don't know.
Melissa:Yeah. So, well, they do the same thing in chemicals. They will label different molecules using isotopes.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Interesting. Just to kind of recap, In order to study where BPA is coming from, if it's primarily getting into our bodies from our hands or from our food Mhmm. We have to first figure out a way to to mark the molecules that are that we're putting in the food and the receipts or whatever Mhmm. To see if that's what's coming out. Okay.
Melissa:I call them special edition molecules.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:You know when you get a special edition of something and it's basically the same thing but a different color?
Jam:Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah.
Melissa:Or on Pokemon GO when they were shiny.
Jam:I never played that, but I think I'm getting I think I get it.
Melissa:You get it. Okay. So That is sort of what isotopes do, but I'm gonna talk about the actual definition. This is your chemistry lesson, and then we'll go back into how How this is relevant to EPA?
Jam:I this might be not helpful for everybody, but I just recently watched a movie where, The police marked some bills, with a specific Radioactive kind of, like, signature.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:So they could find where they were going and then figure out which bills it were.
Melissa:Yes. Sounds
Jam:like A similar thing.
Melissa:Yes. Okay. A similar thing. Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:That's good. I like that. Okay. So let's let's put the labeling Part on the table. We're getting away from BPA, and I'm just defining isotopes for you now.
Jam:Okay. Okay.
Melissa:Typically, atoms have protons, electrons, and neutrons.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Hydrogen is an exception. It doesn't usually have a neutron.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Hydrogen's just a proton and electron hanging out together.
Jam:Proton, positively charged. Electron, negative charge.
Melissa:And neutron, neutral charge.
Jam:Yes. Got it.
Melissa:Okay. So usually, they have those 3 things. And in general, when I am making an assumption about a molecule, the most form usually, not always. As far as I know, this you know, I don't have the specific numbers on this. The atoms that I work with the most often will have Usually about the same number of protons, neutrons, and electrons.
Melissa:So an example is carbon. Mhmm. Carbon has 6 electrons. It has 6 protons, and it has 6 neutrons
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Usually.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:But that's not always the case.
Jam:Of course, it's not.
Melissa:You know? You can lose electrons in bonding. We've talked about that. Mhmm. That makes ions.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:But also naturally occurring, you can have What's called different isotopes.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And that means their protons and electrons are the same, but they have a different number of neutrons.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So carbon 12 has 6 neutrons, 6 protons, 6 electrons.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:The 12 comes from adding together the protons and the neutrons. 6 plus 6, 12.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Carbon Tin has 7 neutrons and 6 protons.
Jam:K.
Melissa:It has a higher mass, 13 is its mass number, Then carbon 12, which is mass numbers 12.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Carbon 14 has 8 neutrons and 6 protons.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Okay.
Jam:So do they not count the electrons in the mass because they aren't Really, like, taking up space in a same way or
Melissa:like that? Or I don't think they contribute significantly to the mass. Uh-huh. But I also think this is chemistry off the cuff here. I'm not I don't I haven't thought about this a long time because I don't teach general chemistry.
Melissa:Uh-huh. I think also because electrons are so often Shared, moved, given, taken that electrons the sense that I had when I took this long time ago is electrons don't come into play as much in the, like, Identity of the molecule. Mhmm. Protons really help you identify the molecule. The atomic number is equal to the proton.
Jam:Got it. Got it.
Melissa:Neutrons contribute to the mass. Mhmm. Electrons are about bonding.
Jam:Okay. Okay.
Melissa:So that's my perception.
Jam:Got it.
Melissa:If that answers your question. Mhmm. If there's a gen chem teacher out there, I don't have 1 handy. I know a few. I can ask them.
Melissa:Okay. Now have you ever heard of deuterium?
Jam:Nope. I don't think so.
Melissa:Have you heard of heavy water? No. Those people talk about that. They use it, I think, for making bombs. But
Jam:Interesting. Heavy water.
Melissa:Heavy water. It doesn't really matter. So these are just phrases sometimes people have heard, but Uh-huh. This both of these have to do with deuterium, which is an isotope of hydrogen. Mhmm.
Melissa:So hydrogen we said is 1 proton and 1 electron normally.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:But if hydrogen has a proton and a neutron Mhmm. Instead of weighing 1 atomic mass, it weighs 2 atomic mass units. And it's known as deuterium instead of hydrogen.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:The du comes from 2 being its mass unit.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:There's also a tritium that has Two neutrons and a proton.
Jam:I feel like I've heard trudium in some sci fi stuff.
Melissa:I'm sure.
Jam:Like, it doesn't I don't think I've heard the what the really real use is in Really?
Melissa:Yeah. It's really I think it's radioactive and also rare. Uh-huh. So we use deuterium a lot actually in chemistry. Mhmm.
Melissa:Because if we basically take The molecule equivalent of an MRI of our molecule. Mhmm. And hydrogen atoms are what we're looking at. Mhmm. So you can't dissolve it at anything with a hydrogen atom
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Which is really hard because we use solvents that have hydrogen atoms a lot, so we replace them with deuterium.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Because they don't act the same way as hydrogen, but they're close.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Okay. So these these are isotopes, what I've just been describing.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Before I talk about how they're used in BPA, I want you to try to explain it back to me.
Jam:Okay. So isotopes, That's part. That part. So you want that's going back?
Melissa:Yeah. I think because that part's a little chemistry mumbo jumbo y. Mhmm. And I think Even I struggle, I usually have to go back and look up the definition of isotope every time I'm about to explain it because I get my words mixed up.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So because of that, I think taking a brain break here
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And processing what isotopes are. Okay. Making sure we understand that and then going back to how they're used in BPA tracking. Okay.
Jam:So It sounds like isotopes are a slightly different version
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Of The normal, quote unquote
Melissa:Right.
Jam:Version of it of the atom of an element.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:So Say carbon. It's most of the time existing like this, and it's like what we might say its most basic state or whatever.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:Where it has 6 neutrons
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:And 6 protons.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:But it is possible for it to have 7 neutrons.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:But still be carbon.
Melissa:It's not
Jam:like it's some totally different element now or whatever.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:And so
Melissa:The thing that changes the element is the protons.
Jam:Right. Okay. So can have more neutrons, which means its Atomic mass is Yes. Greater because there literally are more of something.
Melissa:Yep.
Jam:More neutrons. And that can happen. It's still with the same element. Mhmm. And those differences are called isotopes?
Melissa:The, yeah, the different atoms are called ice atoms like So carbon 12, carbon 13, carbon 14, they're all isotopes of 1 another.
Jam:Or, do Wait. I can't remember. Do something.
Melissa:Deuterium.
Jam:Deuterium. I'm gonna say deutridium, but that would be mixing it with the other one. Deuterium and then tritium
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:Are also isotopes
Melissa:Yep.
Jam:Of hydrogen.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:Okay. So is that right?
Melissa:That's right.
Jam:Okay. Sweet.
Melissa:So I like to think of these as special edition atoms
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:That have different weights. Mhmm. So you can get your Pokemon regular or your Pokemon shiny.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:You can get your carbon 12 mass units, 13 mass units, or 14 mass unit.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:You can get your hydrogen 1 mass unit or 2 mass units
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Or even 3 mass units. Mhmm. Okay. So but this isn't naturally occurring. That's not how most BPA is made.
Melissa:It's usually made with all regular, quote, unquote, regular atoms that are Gonna be carbon 12, hydrogen 1, you know, the regular stuff.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So recently, Scientists have become more interested, I would say, in probably the last 5 years, in figuring out if we're getting a significant amount of BPA exposure from the developer in these thermal receipts.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:But they had to figure out a way to tell that when everyone already has this exposure level.
Jam:Right. We already all have a BPA.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:So they decided to use special edition BPA.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And the big fancy science term for this is isotopically labeled BPA.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And all that means is You could go one of 2 ways. One study switched out all the hydrogens for deuteriums.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So instead of looking for Regular BPA, they're looking for a BPA that had I think it has 16 hydrogens in it, so it had an atomic mass unit that was 16 higher than normal.
Jam:Oh, okay. Okay.
Melissa:So they could find it that way, or there are a few other ways they could look for it. Another study went the other way, and they swapped out all the carbons Mhmm. For carbon 13 instead of carbon 12.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So it doesn't super matter which carbon, hydrogen, whatever they're switching out, but either way, you're making a Special edition of your BPA that you can track more easily in the body because it's different than what's naturally occurring.
Jam:Okay. Got it.
Melissa:Okay. So there were 2 main studies that I found that did this. Okay. And then one sort of satellite study that we'll talk about.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:They put this isotopically labeled special edition BPA in one of them. They put some on a receipt. Mhmm. And they tried to mimic The amount that was normally on a receipt, and then they put some in a cookie.
Jam:K.
Melissa:They put different amounts In the cookie and on the receipt, which could be considered a weakness of the study, but I think they were attempting to mimic real world scenarios. And you'll have less BPA theoretically in the food that you're ingesting than on your receipt. You probably would have more.
Jam:Mhmm. Mhmm.
Melissa:Okay. So they put some BPA in this cookie food to eat and some on a receipt. Mhmm. And what they found, they didn't worry as much about the amounts because they knew they had started with different amounts. Mhmm.
Melissa:But instead, what they noted is that the peak value of BPA that was Internalized for these 2 different processes were totally different.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So from the cookie that the person The study had people eat. It peaked within 4 hours and cleared the body completely. There's no BPA left from the cookie in 24 hours.
Jam:Oh, wow.
Melissa:For the receipt, It peaked after 22 hours Mhmm. And was maintained at the peak for roughly 50 hours
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And stayed in the body for about a week.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So the BPA from what was ingested Was in and out 24 hours.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:The BPA from what was touched with our fingers and absorbed through our skin lasted for a week.
Jam:Dang.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:That's crazy.
Melissa:It's crazy. There was another study that had Participants hold the heat receipt paper. Mhmm. They'd used hand sanitizer first because some This is a whole other episode we could talk about, but some of the things we put on our skin, lotions, hand sanitizers, different things are what can be known as a transporter chemical Mhmm. Which means it can help things go through the barrier of your skin into your bloodstream.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Usually, that's not on purpose. Mhmm. I think it is with some certain medicines that you buy topically That they'll have a transporter chemical or, like, those nicotine patches. They have nicotine with a transporter chemical so that it'll go through the skin.
Jam:Got it.
Melissa:Got it. Sometimes I think lotions and hand sanitizers have that inadvertently. That's not the plan.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:What that means is it can help transport things. Mhmm. So they had a known hand sanitizer that did that. Put that on the hands, held the heat receipt paper As if they were at a fast food restaurant, then touched some french fries without washing their hands Mhmm. And noted that there's dermal Absorption, which means that they were getting absorption of BPA through their skin.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And that was increased significantly due to the transporter chemicals, But also because they were touching the fries and then eating them, you're getting dietary absorption as well.
Jam:Oh, I see.
Melissa:So that was a double whammy. You get a peak within the 1st 24 hours probably from that, and then a continued sustain from your dermal absorption, which May have been even helped by adding this skin transporter chemical on before, which a lot of us will hand sanitize And then eat food. Yeah. Yikes. Dang.
Jam:That's crazy.
Melissa:It is crazy. So both of these studies found that dermal absorption is probably a significant way that we are exposed to BPA. Uh-huh. However, I think there's more in Europe than America, but a lot of European standards Have not eliminated BPA for use in these heat receipts because it's based on The standard that a normal adult will handle melt most heat receipts for less than a minute.
Jam:Mhmm. Mhmm.
Melissa:So to address that Mhmm. Another group studied a college cafeteria and determined how long people were Holding on to these heat receipts, and the average time was 11.5 minutes.
Jam:Really?
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:Interesting. That is surprising to me.
Melissa:It's less surprising to me in a student cafeteria. Because if you think about it, They're probably going through getting all their stuff, paying. They get the receipt.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:They're holding their receipt in their hand with their money. They've got the bag in the other hand. They've got their backpack on. You know, they're walking around, Finding table, they'll put all the stuff down.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And then they'll pick up their receipt in their wallet, fold it up, put it in their backpack. You know? That could just take longer to do all that stuff. Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:So that actually kinda makes sense to me. Interesting. I think probably more at a cafeteria style place would that happen, especially at a crowded college campus, then Mhmm. A restaurant fast food restaurant where you're with your family because I get that thing and just throw it away, basically.
Jam:Totally.
Melissa:But that really was concerning to me that we're assuming that if the average behavior Is 11.5 minutes or even, let's say, for a typical adult, it's closer to 2 or 3. Yeah. We're assuming less than 1.
Jam:Mhmm. Yeah. Seriously.
Melissa:And that impact could be amplified if you have any kind of lotion or something on your hands Mhmm. That's gonna help it transport through.
Jam:Mhmm. Mhmm. Or think about I mean, we have many, many people who are working in a job where they are handling the receipts.
Melissa:Yep.
Jam:They're they're the one tearing it off and handing it to you.
Melissa:That's true.
Jam:Those people would be I mean, obviously, not everybody is that, but that's a lot of people.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:There's a lot of people in any given society that would be doing that and handling way more than a minute a day or whatever.
Melissa:Yeah. Yeah. Dang.
Jam:That's crazy.
Melissa:So these haven't been outlawed really because of that assumption, but these studies are indicating that this is probably a Significant source of BPA. Yeah. There was 1 study sort of summing up, you know, all of the findings of BPA in light of the changing European Union standards. Mhmm. And they got different heat receipts or thermal paper receipts from different places in The world.
Melissa:Mhmm. And they said the ones collected in the United States were BPS. Mhmm. Not BPA, but BPS is a very similar Endocrine disrupting chemical. So Mhmm.
Melissa:It's, you know, basically something that's gonna be really similar impacting your body. Yeah. Yeah. So that's what I learned about BPA this week.
Jam:Dang.
Melissa:And it makes sense to me that this would be a Higher source of DPA exposure because it's just the monomer form.
Jam:Mhmm. Yeah. Dang.
Melissa:So way easier to touch that, get it on your face, Touch food, eat the food. Just it makes a lot of sense.
Jam:Yeah. Not having to wait for, like, UV or something to kinda degrade The polymer version of it. Yeah. It is already ready to go.
Melissa:So, Personally, since I found this out, I've been trying to opt out of a receipt whenever I can. Mhmm. But one study showed that if you rinse your hands for 60 seconds, I think.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:I don't I don't swear by that number, but it got rid of 60% of it with just water. I don't even think they needed soap.
Jam:Interesting.
Melissa:So it you know, soap is always better because it will get everything off your hands if you have soap and water. But Yeah. That is something that's weighed on my mind since I did this research that whenever someone asked me if I want a receipt, I just Hard to just say no whenever I can or opt for the digital copy just because it's not safe, really. Mhmm. Mhmm.
Melissa:And I hold on to those things. I keep them in my wallet. Yeah. Which are they're full of Probably BPS in America, maybe BPA. That's in disrupting my endocrine system.
Melissa:Yeah. Dang. Crazy. Right?
Jam:Yeah. Seriously.
Melissa:So and don't just use hand sanitizer because that could be making your exposure worse. So Mhmm. Mhmm. My advice to you, what I've been doing Since this is trying to opt out of getting the receipts Mhmm. Trying to wash my hands if I touch a BPA Receipt before I eat or touch my face or anything whenever possible.
Melissa:I said BPA receipt, but I shouldn't say. They're technically called thermal receipts, but now
Melissa:I just think of them as BPA receipts.
Melissa:Yeah. Like, that is BPA paper.
Jam:Yeah. Here, you're receiving your dose of,
Melissa:BPA. Daily dose of BPA.
Melissa:Yeah. And just throw them away. You know? Get your information. Take a picture of it.
Melissa:Throw it away. Wash your hands. Whatever you have to do if you you can find a different way to store those. So And I should say, maybe a lot of people don't know this, but at most grocery stores, most restaurants, most places that do large business with receipts, They are using the thermal paper because they they're way more efficient. Yeah.
Melissa:Because you're not having to replace a ribbon of ink or
Jam:anything. Right. Like, I don't even know The last time I've seen a different kind of receipt.
Melissa:Yeah. I think you can pretty much assume that if you're getting your receipt from a store and it's not a very small business or Or Mhmm. A digital receipt that it's probably going to be one that's thermal paper.
Jam:Mhmm. So let me let me make sure I'm I'm understanding this.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:We already nailed down the isotopes part
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:And already said that back to you. And the way they
Melissa:Special editions.
Jam:Special editions. The way they use that
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:In this case was to mark sort of special edition Right. The BPA Mhmm. To figure out how long it stayed in our system
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:How much got in and which through which ways and
Melissa:stuff Yes.
Jam:To try to understand how big of a problem it was.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:And they found out that it was a big problem. Yes. Especially from through our skin when we touch Yes. Receipt rather than say, like, through something we would ingest.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:And that is what led us to the problem that we are now facing.
Melissa:With those BPA receipts?
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:That really should be getting more pushback, I think, than they are.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah. Dang.
Melissa:Yeah. That's it. You nailed it. And I will say, just to clarify, you can absorb BPA through your even without having something additional helping you transport it. Mhmm.
Melissa:Mhmm. But that will just probably increase the concentration that transports before it get washes off for whatever.
Jam:Okay. Got it.
Melissa:So yep. That's BPA receipts. That's what I'm calling them now. BPA receipts.
Jam:Dang. Yikes, dude. That's scary.
Melissa:Yikes. So
Jam:already of opt out of them a lot, so I just will do it even more.
Melissa:Yep. Do it even more, and Keep your kids don't let your kids hold it and play with it in the car. You know? Mhmm. Mhmm.
Melissa:Just say no. Just say no to BPA. Yeah. Yeah. Dang.
Melissa:So that's kind of a bummer to end on. So instead, let's end on a happy note. And, Will, do you have something happy to share with us from this week?
Jam:Yes. I do. A friend of mine who lives my neighborhood Recently, reached out to me and said, hey. I'm trying to get more active, and I don't like to just, Like, lift weights or just run.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:I have to trick myself sort of into being active.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:To totally sympathize with I do like running, but I also fully understand how fun it is, how much better it is to, like, accidentally be active while you're having fun.
Melissa:A 100%. That's all of ice Skating for me. Yes. Because I'm working on a skill and not exercising for the sake of exercise.
Jam:So he was like, I'm thinking about getting into tennis And playing because we have some courts in our neighborhood.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:And would you play with me? And I was like, dude, you asked the perfect person Because
Melissa:That is such a jam sport Yes. I feel like.
Jam:It really is, and I have not played in, like, 12 or 13 years.
Melissa:Nice. Something like that.
Jam:So I dusted off my old racket, and we went and played this past week. And it was so much fun. It was a perfect
Melissa:would Actually, you still have your old racket?
Jam:Uh-huh. Mhmm.
Melissa:Wow. I can't believe that ex escaped your minimalistic purging.
Jam:I know. I think I just felt like There was a high chance that I would play again at some point.
Melissa:I was gonna tell you that I found a tennis racket that I think my husband's been hiding from me In the game closet the other day. Now in the hobby closet where all our other sporting equipment is. So, you know, there they just must be something that You just believe that you could do it again someday.
Jam:Yeah. And depending on the situation, they could be kind of expensive. Like, the one I got
Melissa:Oh, I'm so glad.
Jam:It was it was a perfect scenario. He's never played before, and so he was very new to it. I haven't played in so long that's about as good is not having played before Yes. Except just kinda knowing the rules and stuff.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:But it was a lot of fun. I think if someone really good and It asked me if I wanted to play it. I would not want to, but we had a lot of fun being not great at it together, and I burned, like, so many calories.
Melissa:That's so fun. I wanna do it with you. I have I have I went through a period of time Uh-huh. Where I wanted to learn how to play tennis because A big part of why I like sports is the sounds that go with them. So I don't like basketball because it's squeaky.
Jam:Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
Melissa:Tennis has that satisfying
Jam:noise. Yeah. The way that that the rackets hit that, like, felt
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:And the sound is
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:Really nice.
Melissa:And I had a it for a long time, and I finally convinced myself it was time to go. But Mhmm. Now that I found that random one in the closet that's been hiding, I'll get in on it.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:I'll play some tennis with you guys for sure.
Jam:Heck, yeah. Dude, come on over. And it's like one of those sports that you can find Old rackets at thrift stores and stuff like that too.
Melissa:So easily. Yeah.
Jam:Yeah. It's not yeah. Not a huge deal, but that was my thing. It was so much fun.
Melissa:That does sound fun.
Jam:What did you do?
Melissa:Well, my thing is also similarly active.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:We share Jam's family and I share a love of kayaking.
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:I love kayaking. Anytime I go on a vacation, I try to kayak there if it's, you know, got any reasonable body of water.
Jam:Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
Melissa:So I kayak through Nashville, Kayaking in San Diego. Been kayaking in the island where my sister lives. I love kayaking. So my husband and I wanted to take some kind of Labor Day trip, but we kind of it was late. We were trigger shy.
Melissa:Uh-huh. Didn't know what we wanted to do. Couldn't nail down a place. Couldn't decide if we wanted to go camping. You know?
Melissa:And then someone suggested we go to a nearby place. Uh-huh. It's only a few hours 3 hour drive from us called Beavers Bend.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:And it sort of has a coloradoy vibe with more trees and more hilly.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:It's nice and green. It has a big old river called the Mountain Fork River that Goes through it.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And they have kayaking service. So we drove up there and kayaked this morning, and it was So fun. Nice. And it was, you know, a long trip, but you can't get that kinda kayaking around here with those kind of views.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:You can kite around here, but it's just different.
Jam:Yeah. It's different.
Melissa:And it's further north, so it's a little bit cooler.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:And you guys know about my mortal enemy, the sun. Well, we lucked out, and it rained Lightly or hard, the whole time working.
Jam:Nice. And overcast and stuff.
Melissa:Yeah. Overcast. It was great. I Could not have asked for a better kayaking trip.
Jam:Dude, cool.
Melissa:That's great. Anyone wants to get poured on during a kayaking trip, it's me. That was so fun.
Melissa:It was Beautiful. There's these rock areas or this they've got some rapids kinda going over them. And It's not too intense, but it is a little bit more exciting than other kayaking trips I've been on. It was just really good, and they had a good pizza Place pretty close by in Hoagata Town. So if if anyone, you know, feels like taking a trip And they wanna go check out Beavers Bend, highly recommend.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:Highly recommend it.
Jam:Dang. I'm gonna remember that.
Melissa:It was really fun. So Nice way to celebrate a long weekend, get out in nature, and just kind of reset. It was really beautiful. So
Jam:Dude, that's awesome. Very cool.
Melissa:Yeah. So so thanks for having us beaver Beavers Bend and for being so beautiful. It was beautiful. We loved you. And, also, thanks, Jam, to you and to all of our listeners for learning about BPA receipts and how they really are a potential Major source of BPA exposure if we're not careful with them.
Jam:Yeah. And thank you for teaching us. That's like a huge important Everyday item for many of us.
Melissa:Yeah. So thanks
Jam:a few things about that even though it's kinda scary. And if you out there, listeners, Have any questions or ideas or thoughts, about chemistry of your everyday life? Please ask us. Send us your ideas on Gmail, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook at Kim for your life. That's Kim, f o r, your life to share your ideas with us.
Jam:If you like to help us keep our show going or contribute to cover the cost of making it, Go to kodashfi.com/chem for your life, and donate the cost of a cup of coffee. If you're not able to donate, can still help us by subscribing on your favorite podcast app or rating and writing our review on Apple Podcasts. That also helps us to share chemistry with even more people.
Melissa:This episode of Chemistry For Your Life was created by Melissa Collini and Jam Robinson. References for this episode could be found in our show notes or on our website. Jim Robinson is our producer, and we'd like to give a special thanks to and In Noor who reviewed this episode.
