When did they stop using lead in pencils?

Answer 1

Pencils were never made with lead, they have always been made with graphite. When pencils were first made it was beleived that graphite was a type of lead, but science has now proven graphite is a type of carbon, not lead.

Well, i didn't want to delete this person's answer, but it is wrong. In fact, lead was used in pencils for hundreds of years, but there was a major problem with using lead. These pencils would form lead oxide on the tips, making it difficult to write, so when people wanted to write, they would lick the lead of the pencil to get the lead oxide off. When people realized that this was dangerous because consuming lead (even in minute quantities) can cause brain damage, pencils began to be manufactured with graphite instead of lead. Coming back to your original question - I don't know when they switched to graphite, but I think that it was sometime in the first half of the 20th century.

Answer 2

Pencils never actually used lead. When Pencils were created after a tree was knocked down during a storm it revealed a large mass of black substance thought to be lead. When tested it turned out to be a carbon mixture. It was named graphite years later after the greek meaning "to write".

Answer 3

Pencils have never been made of the element lead -- the substance is graphite, a form of carbon. The name was applied because of the similarity in the appearance of the two substances when graphite was first used (the early 16th century).

Answer 4

The use of lead in pencils began to decline in the 19th century as other materials like graphite became more common. By the mid-20th century, most pencils were made with graphite and not actual lead. Lead pencils are no longer used due to health concerns associated with lead exposure.

Answer 5

No. Because lead was deemed toxic, it has been changed to graphite.

Answer 6

Graphite, not lead, is what is used in normal pencils to make them create the black mark. Art pencils contain amixture of clay and pignents to make the various coloured lines.

Answer 7

Pencils never really did contain lead. It is just called lead because graphite marks look like lead marks.

Answer 8

no!

Answer 9

no