When newspapers are used in the garden to keep down weeds, does the newsprint create a health hazard? For instance, does the ink contain any toxic dyes? Does anyone know what sort of ingredients might be in the ink? Thanks.

-- Caroline from Massachusetts (rsl19@worldnet.att.net), September 07, 2001

Answers

I use newpaper under my mulch around plants all the time and it works like a charm. Our local newpaper uses soy based inks, but this is on the newspaper only, not on the shiney ads from the discount and department stores. It is a great way to get rid of all those extra newspapers for us, that is to say what we don't use as bird cage liners. :-D

-- Kim In Indiana (kwcountrygirl@aol.com), September 07, 2001.

Kim's right about the soy ink, and not using the colored sections.

-- debra in ks (windfish@toto.net), September 07, 2001.

I run all my newspapers through my worms first.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), September 07, 2001.

A good quantity of colored inks are made out of soybeans these days too, due to the brightness of color they can achieve with the soybean inks. If you're worried about it, don't use it. I use a lot of cardboard boxes broken down as well as paper feed sacks for the same purpose and they work fine too.

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), September 08, 2001.

the inks have gone from petro. prodt. to soy over the years but the paper is itself is very high in alum/aluminium.

-- bj pepper in C. MS. (pepper.pepper@excite.com), September 11, 2001.