Should shredded newspaper be thoroughly soaked and washed several times to remove printers ink? Also when feeding worms should I mix the food with shredded paper or add it neat then add the shredded paper?
Can I used partially rotted down food making it more readily available for the worms or is it best to add only freshly chopped up food?
Is shredded newspaper toxic?
RE: Is shredded newspaper toxic?
No, printer ink is made up from vegetable dye, so not toxic to worms
Just add the food neat, the shredded paper goes on top of any food as this is where your worms will be working.
It's useful to dampen it down, worms like it more
Just add the food neat, the shredded paper goes on top of any food as this is where your worms will be working.
It's useful to dampen it down, worms like it more
RE: Is shredded newspaper toxic?
Hi Roger, food does not to be fresh but should not smell bad, if it's just "aged" the worms will move in fast. Rotten smelly/slimy food could resulting in your bin going anaerobic (deprived of oxygen) which is very smelly and could result in death of your worms unless addressed quickly. Food which a bit mouldy is fine put it right in there and watch it disappear.
Willy
Willy
-
WormyMcWormerson
- Junior Member
- Posts:34
- Joined:Thu Nov 05, 2015 3:21 pm
RE: Is shredded newspaper toxic?
You could also stockpile scraps in the freezer and defrost when needed. Freezing seems to help it break down quicker in the wormery.
-
WormyMcWormerson
- Junior Member
- Posts:34
- Joined:Thu Nov 05, 2015 3:21 pm
RE: Is shredded newspaper toxic?
On the subject of newspaper ink, while they do now widely use soybean oil as a carrier, the pigments etc. are the same as used in petroleum based inks. I wouldn't be too concerned about the black pigment, which is just carbon, but the coloured pigments are a bit more funky. Though the most commonly used blue, thalo blue, is non-toxic to fish and plants, it is 'moderately toxic to mammals'. It's also 'persistent' and 'not readily biodegradable'. The most common yellow, diarylide yellow, is considered non-toxic but is suspected of introducing PCB 11 into the environment.
As well as the carrier oil and pigments, newspaper ink also contains resins, pigment extenders and 'other additives'. Exactly what chemicals make up these other ingredients seems a bit of a mystery. The composition most likely differs between printing presses and newspapers, and if you wanted to find out you'd probably have to contact the manufacturers of the inks directly and request their MSDS safety sheets.
Even after all that, I'm not too concerned about using newspaper as bedding; I use it myself, coloured ink and all! The amounts of potentially harmful chemicals are no doubt rather small and the worm composting process and soil ecosystem may break them down or make them inert. The stress of worrying about using newspaper is probably more harmful than actually using it!
As well as the carrier oil and pigments, newspaper ink also contains resins, pigment extenders and 'other additives'. Exactly what chemicals make up these other ingredients seems a bit of a mystery. The composition most likely differs between printing presses and newspapers, and if you wanted to find out you'd probably have to contact the manufacturers of the inks directly and request their MSDS safety sheets.
Even after all that, I'm not too concerned about using newspaper as bedding; I use it myself, coloured ink and all! The amounts of potentially harmful chemicals are no doubt rather small and the worm composting process and soil ecosystem may break them down or make them inert. The stress of worrying about using newspaper is probably more harmful than actually using it!
RE: Is shredded newspaper toxic?
Wow thanks a lot McWorm that's a lot to take in. Thanks for telling us at the end that you consider it safe enough to continue using coloured news print. There is plenty of black and white newsprint out there but it's so much easier to put the whole newspaper in the shredder and use it. I don't use any glossy printed paper in my worm bins or compost, because of the heavy metal they may contain, do you have any thoughts on glossy inks.
? Willy
? Willy
-
WormyMcWormerson
- Junior Member
- Posts:34
- Joined:Thu Nov 05, 2015 3:21 pm
RE: Is shredded newspaper toxic?
From what I have read, the printing industry has been reducing its use of heavy metal based pigments for several decades and has replaced a lot of them with organic pigments.
Anything glossy is going to be covered in some sort of coating. Coatings contain binders which help the pigments stick to the paper better, and can either be made from something as harmless as starch or something as funky as styrene-butadiene (the synthetic rubber they use to make tyres). Any ink that holds its brightness, colour and smoothness during everyday use (e.g. when it comes into contact with other surfaces, water, sunlight, chemicals, the oils on your fingertips etc.) is also going to contain binders, amongst other additives. Such chemicals are not necessarily 'bad': you have to take into account the amounts in which they are present, their toxicity and their capacity to biodegrade. Furthermore, not all inks are going to contain such 'bad' chemicals, but how do you know which do and which don't without contacting each printing company individually?
The composition of newspaper ink is quite simple in comparison to inks used on flyers, inserts, magazines etc. Newspapers are great in number and very disposable, so the ink needs to be cheap. As a result, newspaper ink isn't very water-fast, fades in sunlight and transfers easily. The coloured pigments are the only thing I would potentially be wary of, but I imagine you would get more exposure to them if you lick your finger when turning the pages than if you used newspaper as worm bedding.
The pigments would have to survive the heat and moisture of the composting process as well as travelling through the worm's digestive system. Indeed, certain types of worms have been shown to remove heavy metals from waste by sequestering it in their body tissue. Then you have the metabolic processes of bacteria and fungi which can break down chemicals extraordinarily well. On top of that, you don't eat compost, so even if there were some toxic residues left they'd have to resist degradation from sunlight and rain and then accumulate in the edible parts of plants you are growing and eating. The accumulation of heavy metals in soil can be a problem, but most newspaper ink doesn't contain heavy metals any more.
Ultimately, will there be enough potentially harmful chemicals in your homegrown tomatoes to cause you a problem? I sincerely doubt it. If you are really worried, just avoid the coloured inks.
Anything glossy is going to be covered in some sort of coating. Coatings contain binders which help the pigments stick to the paper better, and can either be made from something as harmless as starch or something as funky as styrene-butadiene (the synthetic rubber they use to make tyres). Any ink that holds its brightness, colour and smoothness during everyday use (e.g. when it comes into contact with other surfaces, water, sunlight, chemicals, the oils on your fingertips etc.) is also going to contain binders, amongst other additives. Such chemicals are not necessarily 'bad': you have to take into account the amounts in which they are present, their toxicity and their capacity to biodegrade. Furthermore, not all inks are going to contain such 'bad' chemicals, but how do you know which do and which don't without contacting each printing company individually?
The composition of newspaper ink is quite simple in comparison to inks used on flyers, inserts, magazines etc. Newspapers are great in number and very disposable, so the ink needs to be cheap. As a result, newspaper ink isn't very water-fast, fades in sunlight and transfers easily. The coloured pigments are the only thing I would potentially be wary of, but I imagine you would get more exposure to them if you lick your finger when turning the pages than if you used newspaper as worm bedding.
The pigments would have to survive the heat and moisture of the composting process as well as travelling through the worm's digestive system. Indeed, certain types of worms have been shown to remove heavy metals from waste by sequestering it in their body tissue. Then you have the metabolic processes of bacteria and fungi which can break down chemicals extraordinarily well. On top of that, you don't eat compost, so even if there were some toxic residues left they'd have to resist degradation from sunlight and rain and then accumulate in the edible parts of plants you are growing and eating. The accumulation of heavy metals in soil can be a problem, but most newspaper ink doesn't contain heavy metals any more.
Ultimately, will there be enough potentially harmful chemicals in your homegrown tomatoes to cause you a problem? I sincerely doubt it. If you are really worried, just avoid the coloured inks.
RE: Is shredded newspaper toxic?
Again wow McWorm thanks. I think you should be there "ink and print" authority for the forum. Thanks for the info.
RE: Is shredded newspaper toxic?
I think the fact that if "out in the wild" you turn over any old discarded newspaper you will find a host of happy worms coexisting and feeding on the paper as it rots down is proof to the viability of newsprint as a suitable food
-
WormyMcWormerson
- Junior Member
- Posts:34
- Joined:Thu Nov 05, 2015 3:21 pm
RE: Is shredded newspaper toxic?
Yes, worms love newspaper, but they'll also eat waste that is contaminated with heavy metals, and I wouldn't want any of that in my wormery. It's more about what happens to any potentially harmful chemicals contained in the newspaper rather than whether or not they'll eat it.