How Much Ink Have You Eaten?

[amberleadavis]

My kid drank "evol" blue (Bay State Blue). We called poison control. He's fine. No harmful side effects. But I really don't get it? Really???? BSB smells nasty. His pooh was a very strange color.

[D.C. in PA]

I'm old enough to have lived in a home in which both of my parents would touch recalcitrant nibs (at that time they used fountain pens exclusively) to their tongues to get things started. I picked up the habit early and have continued it through years of casual fountain pen use and into my more recent collecting days.

This weekend I insulted my Esterbrook desk pen by assuming that it needed starting assistance after sitting unused for several weeks. I knew immediately upon touching it to my tongue that my action was a mistake. I cannot describe the taste, but I knew that there was ink in my mouth.

It is sufficient to say that my green tongue entertained my wife and did not affect my health.

I'll sign this: No Longer Green

[parilla]

Well....at school in Western Australia in the 1950s it was considered cool (before the phrase existed I think) to drink the ink that the teachers put into our desk inkwells, so I probably have consumed a considerable amount!

[andybiotic]

How wierd! I've never thought of eating ink before (shouldn't that be drinking?) , but I do think it would be cool if some company released a fruit drink that doubled as an ink-when you get thirsty, just twist the piston knob.

 

 

My thinking was that if you drink the ink from the bottle then you are "drinking" but if it got on your hands and then licked it off or got onto the food then you are "eating" it! :roflmho:

[amberleadavis]

How wierd! I've never thought of eating ink before (shouldn't that be drinking?) , but I do think it would be cool if some company released a fruit drink that doubled as an ink-when you get thirsty, just twist the piston knob.

 

 

My thinking was that if you drink the ink from the bottle then you are "drinking" but if it got on your hands and then licked it off or got onto the food then you are "eating" it! :roflmho:

 

 

And you are a "picky eater" ....

[savingbirds]

around a teaspoon

[rudrakabir]

Food for thought.........

 

 

Poisoning with Writing Ink

M.P. Sarangi

B. Kumar

Commercially available writing or

marking ink contains aniline dyes as a major contituent. Aniline is a product of nitrobenzene. Fatal poisoning by ingestion of

this compound, though uncommon, is occasionally reported(l). We report a patient

who died of methemoglobinemia following

accidental ingestion of writing ink.

Case Report

An 1 1 - y e a r - o ld g i r l swa l lo we d a b o u t

From the Department of Forensic Medicine and

Toxicology, Lady Hardinge Medical College

a n d A s s o c i a t e d H o s p i t a l s , N e w D e l h i

110 001.

Reprint requests: Dr. M.P. Sarangi, C-45,

Pocket 'B', Mayur Vihar-II, Delhi 110 091.

Received for publication: April 28, 1994;

Accepted: May 2, 1994

856

mology, Vol I. Eds Colowick SP, Kaplan

WOP. London, Academic Press, 1956, pp

294-304.

2. Wroblewki F, Due JS. Lactic dehydroge-

nase activity in blood. Poc Soc Exp Biol

Med 1955, 90: 210-213.

3. Sibley JA, Lehninger AL. Determination

of aldolase in animal tissue. J Biol Chem

1949, 1.77: 852-856.

30 ml of 'Sulekha' writing ink. One and half

hours later, she was found unconscious and

complete pale with bluish tint. Her lips were

da rk purpl e in co lour . De spi t e ga s tr ic

lavage, oxygen administration and slow

intravenous infusion of 1% methylene-blue

solution in the dosage of 1 mg/kg body

weight, she died 12 hours later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:http://www.indianpediatrics.net/july1994/856.pdf

[andybiotic]

First of all, I don't know how much of that from the internet is true... "1% methylene-blue solution in the dosage of 1 mg/kg body weight..." there is no need to specify the dilution percentage if you are specifying the exactly concentration. It is either how much volume of the 1% solution to the body weight, or just the concentration of the reactive compound to the body weight.

 

she was found unconscious and

complete pale with bluish tint. Her lips were

da rk purpl e in co lour .

 

Since I am suspicious of the case, I am sorry to say that I actually found the above description quite funny... I will try a little J herbin Rose cyclamen, I think my skin needs a little red... :roflmho:

Edited April 28, 2012 by andybiotic

[amberleadavis]

I'm a lot more worried about the Draino under the sink and the turpentine in the garage (my brother drank the turpentine because it was a pretty color and in his favorite glass) - than I will ever be about the ink on my desk.

[andybiotic]

my brother drank the turpentine because it was a pretty color and in his favorite glass

 

That's pretty messed up right there! :blink:

[jasonditz]

If wonder if Baystate Blue stains your colon as bad as it stains my kitchen table.

 

In all seriousness though, when I was cleaning a pen in a coffee cup full of water I couldn't help but notice how similar the result was to what I used to dye Easter Eggs with as a kid... do they just package tiny amounts of dried fountain pen ink in those coloring kits? If so I've eaten a lot because that stuff always bleeds through the shell and onto the eggwhite inside.

[79spitfire]

I know BSB tastes bad...

 

As far as volume, likely not more than a teaspoon or so (lifetime). I likely have drank more motor oil.

[georges zaslavsky]

never had eaten ink

[wij]

I made these Easter eggs one year, using mostly Herbin and Waterman inks. And I ate the eggs after peeling them. No harm done. Does that count?

[ashbridg]

Frank Dubiel wrote that vintage ink is safe to drink (Skrip and Quink). It's just tap water and dye, no biocides or shellac. Parents with small kids should use these inks (no self-respecting toddler would miss a chance to chug a tasty bottle of ink). My own ink consumption is low. I'm not much of a nib licker. My old Sheaffer pens start right up without priming, even on the coldest mornings.

[cedargirl]

Frank Dubiel wrote that vintage ink is safe to drink (Skrip and Quink). It's just tap water and dye, no biocides or shellac. Parents with small kids should use these inks (no self-respecting toddler would miss a chance to chug a tasty bottle of ink). My own ink consumption is low. I'm not much of a nib licker. My old Sheaffer pens start right up without priming, even on the coldest mornings.

 

 

Mmmm ... Be careful about "just tap water and dye". The dyes are aniline dyes - do some research. Best not to advocate their consumption. (Shellac is, however, ok to eat. It's in many sweets and medicines.)

 

 

Me? I restrict my intake to Diamine Merlot. Trouble is I have to buy so many of those 80ml bottles!

[Seele]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGBtwLdwxDA

[cedargirl]

Genius.

[tonybelding]

I consistently have ink on my fingers and I like eating with my hands... over time I think I have at least eaten half a bottle of ink...

 

I find that... strange, and a bit disturbing. WHY, I wonder, do you consistently have ink on your fingers?

 

I try not to get my fingers inky when I fill my pens. Sometimes I end up with a small stain of ink on my fingers, but then I go wash it off. I use a lot of Noodler's "bulletproof" inks that wash off skin easily -- but even if it's an ink that stains skin, the amount remaining is extremely tiny.

[ashbridg]

(Shellac is, however, ok to eat. It's in many sweets and medicines.)

So is aniline dye. It's in meats, soda pop, and ice cream.

 

Again, vintage inks such as Quink and Skrip are non-toxic to ingest. Note the word 'vintage'. Back in the old days the US government required inks to be safe. Ink was used in every school and business. The risk of toxic ink was a serious concern. Yet I cannot find a single instance of ink poisoning from these two inks. Of course things are different now. Modern inks are not regulated in the US. Some are probably safe, others maybe not.

 

Thanks for the advice, but I have already done "some research," which is why I quoted Frank Dubiel above. He ran an ink and dye lab for 20 years. He also authored the first comprehensive book on pen repair. Dubiel insisted many times that vintage Quink and Skrip inks are safe enough to drink.

 

I do not personally eat or drink ink, as I said earlier. But if young children were to be exposed to ink, I would prefer it be vintage ink, rather than those modern pen-melting witch's brews that the nib masters always complain about.

.

Edited October 12, 2012 by ashbridg