Paint pens contain paint.

Do you paint the walls in your house??? That's a lot more paint and it's inside your house. The little bit of paint on a container label is a whole lot less and it's outside.

Do you know what chemicals are in your furniture? The fabric on your furniture? Your carpeting? The chemicals you clean with? The soap you use to bathe or the detergents used for laundry? Chemical ferts and pesticides? You probably don't want to know.

Karen

I'd imagine they contain VOCs, volatile organic compounds, which have been linked to all sorts of fun stuff. Then again, if you've ever painted a room, you've been exposed to VOCs, as it isn't until the past few years that they came out with low VOC paints. Now, I'd imagine that painting a room would lead to more exposure than a paint pen. Also, things like felt tip pens and white board markers contain VOCs.

Should also mention that if you eat any form of processed food you increase your risk of ingesting partially hydrogenated fats (linked to heart problems), various dyes (carcinogenic and ADHD), high fructose corn syrup (linked to obesity as it is not digested the same way in the body as sugar) and other fun stuff, which are far more dangerous for your health than sniffing a paint pen for a few moments in my opinion.

The world is a dangerous place to live in, and always has been. It's just that in this modern world we traded wild animals for chemicals. ;o)

That being said, a more safe method, if you're worried about ingesting chemicals, would perhaps be to get a wood marker and using a pencil to write with. That's what we used to use when I was back in horticultural college. Ours were bright yellow, making the writing stand out, but I have not seen those over here in the US. Marking IS important, but you may not want to risk your health doing so. :o)

Sorry for the long response, but I find chemicals in our surrounding a really interesting debate. NOT trying to bash you or your information in any way shape or form. :o)

We all make choices about the things we expose ourselves to, both inside and outside our homes. Some choices are easy to make and others not so much. Marking or not with a paint pen is an easy choice. I do so without much concern as it is a limited exposure. Others may choose to use something else.
I agree with Ellen that we can avoid some of those exposures and may rethink using paint pens.

I've been exposed to more hazards than I care to think about (oil paints & stains, fiberglass insulation, mercury gas from a broken flourescent tube, etc) - a little paint pen isn't high on my list of worries. The most dangerous thing about the dang paint pen seems to be forgetting to put the top on tight, and having the paint leak out onto the kitchen table!!

Labeling IS important - even though I'm somewhat anal, I still manage to mix up a couple seeds, plants, or containers every year. But there are other options besides paint pens. You can use pencil on a mini-blind, and that supposedly lasts very well. Also, I've tried a piece of the aluminum tape on the mini-blind, which you can then "emboss" with a simple ball point pen.

Thank you ellenrr for that information,you can never have to much info.
cAROL

While I agree with most here that danger from a paint pen is much lower than (unfortunately) many other things in our lives, by the same token I'm all for ferreting out all the little things in our daily lives that can add up to affecting us.

If you really want to make a statement, e-mail/contact the company who made the pen and tell them that you returned it and why. Enough bad word-of-mouth, bad press, enough returns (money talks!) will possibly have an effect on the company so hopefully they will change the pens.

Thanks for the heads up!
Dee

Is that why garden catalogs sell a xylene-free marker? My paint pen globs & blobs onto my finger. Might be user error, but I don't like it.

I use a pencil on window blinds inside the containers & the paint pen on the outside while wearing a glove. Permanent marker on the outside of the jugs works for a long time for me. I didn't recall if any faded by June. I had the backup label inside.

A grease pencil from the plumbing department writes well on either, but is a pain to peel back the paper to expose more pencil.

Anyone have a better solution?
Corrine

I am betting that most of you are not prey to MCS, or a disorder known as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. I have it, not as bad as some people I know who have to live in their car, or in a tent, bec. they are made so sick by certain chemicals. Of course the chemicals that make us sick, make the rest of you sick too, just that we feel it, and you don't. Doesn't mean you or your children down the road don't get cancer. So to those of you who feel compelled to broadcast your non-noncern: here's wishing you a long and healthy life. :) and your children. Since it is now known that exposure to toxics can be passed to descendants.