This Christian Life

Can I burn newspaper without side effects?

Have you ever wondered if you can burn newspaper without feeling guilty that you’re polluting the environment with toxic inks? Well, I did, and asked some people at the Grand Rapids Press what the deal was. Here’s my question and what they said.

Question

As a reader of the GR Press, I’d like to know a little more about the recommended uses of my newspapers. I mainly want to know if I can use it to start fires in my fireplace at home, without hurting the environment. I’m curious if you can tell me if the ink used in printing the press is toxic or otherwise harmful.

Answers:

From Bob Pierce, Operations Director

The black ink that we use is composed of a petroleum based vehicle with carbon black suspended in it . The color inks are a petroleum/soy oil vehicle consisting of pigments and several other chemical binders. I know of no known toxic characteristics. Among other uses, recycled newsprint is used as a garden mulch, insulation, and animal bedding. Unlike inks used to print on packaging materials and glossy stock, the inks we use are fairly basic formulations. I hope this answers your question.

From Aaron Phipps, Assistant Production Manager

Combustion of paper, as well as fire wood, can produce a group of chemicals called Dioxins which may cause adverse health effects (Dioxins has more to do with combustion rather than what is burned). A search on the internet turned up the following web page with information about Dioxins: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/dioxinqa.html

Using newspaper to start a fire will be less harmfull than the wood that is burned in higher quantities in the fireplace.

The ink is vegitable based, using soy oil and some other oils. There is still some amount of petrolium used but it is not the main ingredient.

The best recommendation is to recycle the paper so it can be reused.