Bad gas

Alternatives Journal, August, 2009

I've been noticing that the vegetable-based ink being used in printing the magazine is gassing-off VOCs. I had some difficulty reading my last issue of Alternatives Journal [Size Matters, 35:1, 2009]. When I opened the magazine, it felt as if I had entered a high-VOC-painted room. This is something I am finding with many magazines, pamphlets and books that use vegetable-based inks. These VOCs can be harmful to our health. There is a growing list of studies on the effects of these chemical gases.

Have you received other comments on this concern? Hope you can find some healthier sources of ink.

--Lorne Peterson

Arlington, Virginia

In response: We have recognized a growing awareness in the printing industry and the public at large for more environmentally friendly inks. The ink used to print Alternatives is my most environmentally friendly ink. It has VOC percentages of less than five per cent by EPA Method 24. This is roughly one-quarter to one-third the amount of VOCs in typical inks. The VOCs in these inks have been replaced by compounds such as linseed oil and soybean oil. What Lorne Peterson is smelling are the oxidation/polymerization by-products of these vegetable oils drying. These have a general chemistry of aldehydes, ketones and carboxylic acids. They are volatile and mobile, and are produced in very minute quantities, but they do have strong odours. Once these inks have dried and the pages aired out to release the gases, the ink has no odour at all.

--Peter Welfare

Research and Development

Rycoline Inc., The Printing Ink Company