I use it all;
the old inks that contained heavy metals are now so expensive that it's far cheaper to use the soy-based inks.

A while ago I did quite a bit of research about inks and composting, as I kept hearing/reading conflicting opinions/dire warnings/old wives tales, but very little scientific evidence!
From what I can ascertain, it's pretty much safe to compost pretty much any paper products.
While environmental concerns have played a part, like Sylvia says it's mostly the bottom line at play: it's much cheaper to clean soy-based inks off equipment with water, than lead with solvents.
Kaolin (fancy clay) used to make glossy paper, is biodegradable.
I also live in the city, and imagine my daily dose of inhaled heavy metals is much higher than anything I could absorb from my relatively stable compost.
But. I'm not an expert and I'd also be really interested if someone could offer any further advice. I'm also in New Zealand and things may be different here...

I use them all too. Napkins, paper towels, paper plates, white paper, shopping bags, cardboard, pizza boxes, cereal boxes, etc. The sensitive financial papers get ripped up and put into the compost pile. I don't worry about the inks because that is a relatively small portion of the paper product, and figure they are soy-based anyway. I am not sure if there are any other harmful residues in the paper or not (i.e. dioxin in bleached paper??).

I do fuss about pieces of plastic that accidentally get mixed in - such as a stray piece of tape on a cardboard box, and some paper products are manufactured with a thin layer of plastic as well - such as the paper coffee cups I used to compost!

I'm still unconvinced that the pigments are safe.

The binders in inks may be made of soy, but the soy is not a colorant.

Its one of those things every body has to decide on there own there is plenty of research out there and like all research you can probably find plenty of evidence for either side I personally compost all paper and don't give it a second though

I think there is some mercury in paper.

The printers and manufacturers are exposed to these things all day every day. Does your printed stuff come from some place which has OSHA or a good union?

Don, any answers you may get on this forum are most likely going to be based on speculation. If you want definitive answers, it would seem your only option would be to contact each company and try to trace the origin of each paper or cardboard box. Probably not very realistic to expect to find out what's in each.

If you are unable to get information from the manufacturer and are uncomfortable using them, your best best bet is simply not to use them.

Karen

I think, as a rule, most paper products do not contain harmful chemical make-up that could drastically change the way it decomposes and poses no danger to its later use.
I remember back when, we were on a septic system, and we were forever cautioned about what NOT to put down the toilet. Things such as Kleenex tissue, women's napkins, and certain products containing "red dye #3"....plus a number of other daily use things.
Has this changed?

I once put a couple pounds of raisins into the toilet because I was told raisins add to the system's ability to decompose things because they break down so wonderfully.
Such waste of good food I quickly learned not to believe.
It did indeed do what they said....but it could do better in my tummy. I love raisins.

For all what might be the bad side of how paper is made, I wouldn't worry about it; tear it up into little pieces to better break down faster. Newspaper continues to be one of the best things to put into your compost.

..
Anything that may have been printed oversees is suspect in my mind. that might include glossy magazines and color supplements in the Sunday paper including store adds.

In the US, the haz mat costs of the old inks is so expensive that you really need to go soy. I don't know about the pigments but I've got to imagine the pigments amount to trace levels.

Office paper and and a lot of your bills come off of laser printers and photo copiers. That means toner and not ink. Toner is essentially plastic. I've gone through a hundred MSDS sheets and they're all the same - black & white toner is non-toxic. But, it is plastic and for al intensive purposes, doesn't break down. I have a steady supply of shredded office paper and have decided that even though, as Xerox advised, that the paper will break but the toner will not, that I can live with toner in my compost. Maybe some folks don't want that in their compost so they should be aware that that's what comes with office paper and bills.

Any wrapping that requires a vapor barrier will probably have plastic in it. I generally avoid wrapping paper that might serve as a vapor barrier including the wrapping for reams of office paper.

Each forrest fire releases a bunch of mercury in the air. Mercury is in trees. Paper is made from trees. I guess that means there's mercury in paper and in leaves and in sticks and in wood chips and any other stinkin wood product.

Returning to the kick-off post, paper cool, inks can be a problem. Inks for most things printed domestically should be cool. anything printed overseas is suspect in my mind. Toner on office paper is cool by me but it is plastic, if non-toxic, so that may not be cool for you.

I generally don't mess with cardboard boxes because I have to expect them to be printed overseas and they typically carry glues of unknown provenance plus those god awful tapes.

too sense
..

For many years the Food And Drug Administrations has required that inks used on food packaging be safe for human consumption. Even as bad as the FDA is today I doubt there is a manufacturer of any food product that would want it known that they were using unsafe inks, even though some food processors have allowed those minor disease pathogens such as E-Coli, Listeria, Slamonella, etc. to contaminate the foods we are sold.

I have some concern about composting newspapers. While there is no problem with the black ink, most colors may have trace amounts of toxic metals. Small amounts should be OK, but I'm avoiding large amounts of colored newsprint in my compost.

This is based on information provided on the "Newspaper Association of America" website. Link provided

Here is a link that might be useful: NAA website

Gosh, all the peoople who seem to think there's trouble in media-land and newspapers are dangerous...we know the L.A, and N Y Times are in trouble financially, but really....
I suggest a couple of responders to this question wear gloves when handling paper and its by-products.

But, wait a minute, plastic gloves probably are unsafe....they could contain something from the carton they were packed in.

Better resign from the human race people.....there's danger out there. Stop breathing....you're polluting the air us others have to take in!
Everybody knows second hand breathing is dangerous to the health.

I put a trash can out by our bank of mail boxes with a note to the affect 'deposit political stuff here'. I now have 50+ pounds of postcard like stuff, glossy on stiff cardboard. The messages are really vile, filthy and hateful. Should I compost them?

lol I like it Albert but that is some pretty hot manure I would hate for it to burn your plants

As far as dioxin, the idea that it is in paper at dangerous levels is a myth. Tiny amounts are (were anyway) produced in the chlorine bleaching process. It ends up in the wastewater, not the paper. In fact, dioxin is a fat-soluble compound like DDT and PCBs, and there is probably more in the milk than there is in the cardboard carton. Not to mention your own fat. :-o