Lead in Pool Chalk?

Sire380

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
This is the only thing that could potentially get me to cut down on my playing time. I know some chalks have more lead than others. Does anybody have any legitimate information on this subject.
 
i wouldnt worry about it, i have seen players like efren with blue hands for years and they never had a problem and i'm pretty sure they play more than you do.
 
Sire380 said:
This is the only thing that could potentially get me to cut down on my playing time. I know some chalks have more lead than others. Does anybody have any legitimate information on this subject.

The forum search feature is a wonderful tool. I remember this thread from a while ago.

You can contact the manufacturer of the chalk that you use and ask them to provide you with the MSDS (Material Data Safety Sheet). They are required to have this on file and should give it to you free of charge.
 
Sire380 said:
This is the only thing that could potentially get me to cut down on my playing time.

are you serious? while i understand one want to be cautious with what they get on their hands, there needs to be some form of reasoning. do you ever leave your house? how about a slow highway? drive-thru? gawd damn.. i am assuming that you are a fully grown adult here.

i beg your pardon but..
 
When we were kids we played with toys made out of lead. We even had a mold to cast our own toy soldiers. Even the toothpaste we used came in a lead tube. It never bothered me any. It never bothered me any. It never bothered me any.
 
Irish634 said:
The forum search feature is a wonderful tool. I remember this thread from a while ago.

You can contact the manufacturer of the chalk that you use and ask them to provide you with the MSDS (Material Data Safety Sheet). They are required to have this on file and should give it to you free of charge.

dang it, Irish beat me to it..:D

somebody with a lot of time on their hands needs to categorize, catalog or put together a book of common questions on these billiard forums.

instead of the suggestion a while back to charge a fee to post on this forum, AZ could put together a booklet of required readings and require newbies to buy it before they would be able to post on AZ.

Just a random thought !?! :p
 
jay helfert said:
I've got a great suggestion. DON'T EAT THE CHALK!

Some overly cranky players may receive the suggestion that they use chalk as a suppository. ;)
 
Sire380 said:
This is the only thing that could potentially get me to cut down on my playing time. I know some chalks have more lead than others. Does anybody have any legitimate information on this subject.
Yes, and it's been discussed before. I've interviewed the Tweeten Fiber Co. on this and got the full scoop a few years ago.

The lead in certain pigments affected industries across the board. When the EPA and FDA was able to have these pigments banned, every industry had to legally comply. That included the pool & billiard chalk industry.

So, the couple of colors of chalks that affected, Tweeten (and presumably any other chalk company) modified in accordance.

So, the short answer is that there is no lead in modern chalk (in the same regard as there is no lead in available pigments in general.

Fred
 
pool ranks as safest sport

mantis99 said:
I e-mailed tweeten a few times and got the same response as above. Their is no lead in their chalk.

We are definitely drug free & now that we are assured on the lead question, we can promote ourselves as the safest sport available. Now we just need the pool rooms prohibiting "outside food & drinks" to provide some alternatives to junk food & alcohol or sugar/sodium laden beverages.
 
While todays chalk may be free of poisonous lead, breathing in very fine particles of anything isn't exactly good for you. IIRC, in the book "Cornbread Red: Pool's Greatest Money Player", his doctors diagnose him with miners lung due to all of the years of exposure to chalk dust, and it eventually contributes to his death.
 
Old Masters chalk (Tweeten) did indeed have "a level" of lead.

New Masters does not have lead.

It's real easy to know which one you're eating - new, no-lead Masters
has the Flag.

No Flag = LEAD.

Flag = NO LEAD.

Many people will tell you that the pre-flag stuff was better.

I still have 2 gross of the pre-flag stuff. Love it, lead and all!

-von
 
VonRhett said:
Old Masters chalk (Tweeten) did indeed have "a level" of lead.

New Masters does not have lead.

It's real easy to know which one you're eating - new, no-lead Masters
has the Flag.

No Flag = LEAD.

Flag = NO LEAD.

Many people will tell you that the pre-flag stuff was better.

I still have 2 gross of the pre-flag stuff. Love it, lead and all!

-von
My goodness, the rumors have to stop. The flag was introduced for 9/11. Again, quite confirmed multiple times by Skip Nemecek of Tweetens. No other reason. Lead was dropped long before that.

Fred
 
desert1pocket said:
While todays chalk may be free of poisonous lead, breathing in very fine particles of anything isn't exactly good for you. IIRC, in the book "Cornbread Red: Pool's Greatest Money Player", his doctors diagnose him with miners lung due to all of the years of exposure to chalk dust, and it eventually contributes to his death.

This is absolutely true. Any form of fine dust such as aerosils, metals, etc. can cause serious health problems if inhaled. I work in a lab with many of these substances lying around and only recenty have people started to look into the health effects. In short, don't do lines of chalk!!
 
In an episode of CSI once they had to track down a suspect with blue chalk dust on him.

They figured out that the Chalk, had no Chalk in it, can't remember what they said it was made out of, but I know they did not say lead.

Of course it's just a TV show.:D
 
CaptainHook said:
In an episode of CSI once they had to track down a suspect with blue chalk dust on him.

They figured out that the Chalk, had no Chalk in it, can't remember what they said it was made out of, but I know they did not say lead.

Of course it's just a TV show.:D
According to Tweetens it's 93-96% silicon dioxide. That's sand to you (and quartz), also the primary ingredient in concrete, glass, fiber optics and many semiconductors (why they call it Silicon Valley).

pj
chgo
 
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