Ebonite: Safe?

[Nurmister]

Good Morning,

 

I recently purchased a wonderful Gama Forever fountain pen in a beautiful glossy black finish.

 

One distinguishing factor of this and many other Indian eyedropper pens is the fact that they are made from ebonite, aka vulcanite, aka hard rubber.

I am sure that in this forum many are familiar with this material. It is the first time dealing with it for me, personally, so I had this question:

 

Is the gas that Ebonite emits when new or when heated "safe"?

 

I mean "safe" in the sense that it does not pose any detrimental long-term effects to my health. I am aware of the ubiquity of this material in pen manufacturing of yesteryear, so I would think it is! But I just wanted a peace of mind.

 

I look forward to your contributions.

 

Nurmister

 

Edit: I write this due to my recent acquaintance to Volatile Organic Compounds, a set of harmful gases emitted by numerous petroleum-based products. Luckily, I suspect that ebonite does not fall under such a category since:

 

i. Formic acid is used only during the(raw?) rubber manufacturing process.

ii. Sulfur is used for vulcanization (but the rubber itself should be desulfurized before further processing, hopefully).

iii. Ebonite hates petroleum!

Edited November 14, 2015 by Nurmister

[Fuellerfuehrerschein]

Have a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebonite for some answers.

 

If a new pen is exposed to the air for some months the typical smell of freshly produced/processed ebonite will be greatly reduced.

[mehandiratta]

i have been using the ebonite for long... and well i dont see it being that harmful to use ...

it may be harmful for people who smoke pipes made out of ebonite ...

[Pterodactylus]

Oh my god, you are exposed to deadly gases ...... Surrounded by highly toxic things everywhere.

 

I fear there is no escape for you, you are already heavily contaminated, you will be dying within the next months due to dangerous hard rubber exposure.....

 

Please donate your pens in the pay it forward thread as you will not need them in the future anymore.

 

 

 

Seriously:

This is a joke thread right?

I can't imagine that your post was a serious question.

[J_MM]

Oh my god, you are exposed to deadly gases ...... Surrounded by highly toxic things everywhere.

 

I fear there is no escape for you, you are already heavily contaminated, you will be dying within the next months due to dangerous hard rubber exposure.....

 

Please donate your pens in the pay it forward thread as you will not need them in the future anymore.

 

 

 

Seriously:

This is a joke thread right?

I can't imagine that your post was a serious question.

 

 

It seems like a reasonable question for someone new to fountain pens.

[Pterodactylus]

Hard rubber is and was used for many daily used things and tools for more than 100 years.

E.g. It is used for mouthpieces of music instruments, pipes and many other things.

So you can take it without any danger even in your mouth.

It is not toxic.

 

 

Of course you do not know what a manufacturer may add to the hardrubber, e.g. to color it.

Especially if it is produced cheap in countries like India or China.

But even then I consider the possible threat as really really low, especially when it is a commercial product also sold in western countries, as there are rigid regulations in the western countries regarding emissions of products.

Manufacturers and Importers are liable for their products due to product liability laws.

Edited November 17, 2015 by Pterodactylus

[I.M.]

Oh my god, you are exposed to deadly gases ...... Surrounded by highly toxic things everywhere.

 

I fear there is no escape for you, you are already heavily contaminated, you will be dying within the next months due to dangerous hard rubber exposure.....

 

Please donate your pens in the pay it forward thread as you will not need them in the future anymore.

 

 

 

Seriously:

This is a joke thread right?

I can't imagine that your post was a serious question.

 

I think it is perfectly obvious that this wasn't intended to be a joke thread. It was a serious question asked in a studiously correct, serious tone.

Edited November 18, 2015 by I.M.

[Nurmister]

Revisiting this post five years later is quite funny. I should have chilled out a bit.

 

Anyway, I had been using that pen on/off for that past some years: no side effects or skin conditions. Ebonite is indeed safe, younger Nurmister.

 

The pen was bought from fountainpenrevolution in TX, it's made of Indian ebonite (as opposed to Japanese or German). The below isn't a picture of my pen, but mine has held up well.