On Sat, 12 Feb 2005 16:59 +0000 (GMT), (Steve
Harris) wrote:

In article ,
(TILLER BILL) wrote:

I think as long as there is no color ink it should be ok..

So one should only shred and compost pure white unused paper? :-)


Many years ago, the coloured pigments in inks could contain some quite
toxic components, but so much paper gets recycled these days, and as
it's not possible to predict what the recycled paper will get used
for, inks are now pretty harmless. The printing industry is also
required by law to consider the health and safety of its workers,
another reason to use non-toxic inks.

The paper itself consists mostly of cellulose fibres from wood,
occasionally from other vegetable fibres, often with mineral fillers
and coatings such as kaolin and chalk stuck together by modern polymer
adhesives.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net