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What's Inside Ballpoint Ink? Another Reason To Use Fountain Pens.


Bluey

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Are these substances proven harmful from ballpoint ink written on paper? Something like cyanide as part of a stable chemical compound might be safe.

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

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There must be something slightly iffy since ASDA has withdrawn some of their own-brand ballpoints after a issue with the ink.

Yesterday is history.

Tomorrow is a mystery.

Today is a gift.

That's why it's called the present

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Many things are available to the public which are known to be dangerous, in food, cosmetics etc etc...

 

ETA: I'd like to mention clothing too (in spite of the eloquent "etc etc" above). The dyes we have in our clothes, many of them are quite toxic (even from expensive brands). Hence the advice to wash new clothes up to three times before first wear.

Edited by Olya
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If they are so dangerous why they are still available to the public?

I'm not sure. Pesticides which are usually carcinogenic are routinely used on fresh fruit and veg but they're still sold in shops, as the above poster mentions. Not a week goes by when something that is universally available is discovered to have some health issue (or perhaps it was known by a select few all along).

I think the law in many countries 'tolerate' a certain level of harmful substances in products.

Edited by Bluey
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I'm not sure. Pesticides which are usually carcinogenic are routinely used on fresh fruit and veg but they're still sold in shops, as the above poster mentions. Not a week goes by when something that is universally available is discovered to have some health issue (or perhaps it was known by a select few all along).

I think the law in many countries 'tolerate' a certain level of harmful substances in products.

 

Well, yes. Caffeine at high enough doses will stop your heart and kill you. Heck, drinking too much water can dilute your blood and kill you--marathoners have suffered this. Dosage is everything. Substances that are harmful at some doses are have no effect at others, and even if they do the benefits that they confer can outweigh the damage. Think of chemotherapy: It makes you horribly sick, but people do it because it's better than the cancer. Pesticides that are poisonous if you are exposed to a lot of them are trivial at the levels you encounter in the supermarket, and are tolerated because the minimal harm that could result from low levels of exposure is outweighed by the benefits of increasing crop yield and avoiding famine.

 

I don't know the science, but I strongly suspect that a substance that is be "a wee bit carcinogenic" is probably a substance that in certain conditions, at certain levels of exposure, has been found to cause cancer in rats. But then, so has almost every chemical we interact with in daily life. I think as long as you don't eat fifty ballpoint pens a day, you'll probably be fine.

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Can't be too bad with any of our inks. I have yet to see a warning on a ball point refill that starts with "in the State of California...."

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Can't be too bad with any of our inks. I have yet to see a warning on a ball point refill that starts with "in the State of California...."

 

Keep in mind that those warnings bear little relationship to the probability of harm, and a lot of relationship to which special interests and which industries have enough clout to make/prevent legislators requiring them. The reasons ballpoint refills could have no warnings could be

  1. They are harmless
  2. No one thought to actually ask for warning laws
  3. Big Ballpoint has managed to prevent any such laws from being passed.

I suspect it is #1, but it could be any of them. Think of the kerfuffle over warnings about whether food contains GMOs. That's being determined by political factions, not the scientific research about whether GMOs are harmful.

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Keep in mind that those warnings bear little relationship to the probability of harm, and a lot of relationship to which special interests and which industries have enough clout to make/prevent legislators requiring them. The reasons ballpoint refills could have no warnings could be

  1. They are harmless
  2. No one thought to actually ask for warning laws
  3. Big Ballpoint has managed to prevent any such laws from being passed.

I suspect it is #1, but it could be any of them. Think of the kerfuffle over warnings about whether food contains GMOs. That's being determined by political factions, not the scientific research about whether GMOs are harmful.

 

As far as I remember the FDA, or similar, is watching. A certain ink colour by a well known brand is/was not allowed in the US because of one component.

 

This also shows that it is not "Big Industry" showing muscle.

 

D.ick

~

KEEP SAFE, WEAR A MASK, KEEP A DISTANCE.

Freedom exists by virtue of self limitation.

~

 

 

 

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As far as I remember the FDA, or similar, is watching. A certain ink colour by a well known brand is/was not allowed in the US because of one component.

 

This also shows that it is not "Big Industry" showing muscle.

 

D.ick

But which industries are the FDA tied to? That is the question

http://uk.businessinsider.com/fda-pharmaceutical-industry-ties-revolving-door-2016-9

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