Paper Safety

Today I was asked by a mom whether a "Paper Safety Index" exists. She writes:

I am looking for a "paper safety index" to determine safety of paper for infant exploration. I have several teachers wanting to set up a paper installation for infants aged 6 months to 12 months to crawl around on, reach up to and touch, and generally be surrounded by the sounds. smells and textures of paper. Parents at our center want to know if they should be concerned about certain chemicals in paper. Can you help?

First, here is a link that answers the question, "How is Paper Recycled?"
Paper University - All About Paper

Although that article mentions that hydrogen peroxide and chlorine used in the papermaking process, I think that you want more specific answers regarding the safely of chemicals used in papermaking and how they might affect a baby who might eat or sniff or roll around on paper.

Here is an article that describes the chemical processes used to produce fine and print paper. That site also provides links talking about the specific chemicals used in the paper making process, Hydrogen Peroxide
and Chlorine.

Here is an article specifically discussing with environmentally friendly papers. The main argument of the article is that bleaching is bad for the environment and therefore we should be buying bleach-free papers. Unfortunately it does not deal specifically with the question of how much bleach and other toxins remains in finished paper and how those chemicals affect us.

So, I looked up paper allergies and found articles specifically on Rosin allergies a substance naturally occurring in wood and paper.

So, I looked up "paper making ingredients" and found this excellent article by Mohawk Paper on what is in their papers. But, again, it does not specifically state that these ingredients are safe to eat.

When I visited a cotton paper making plan and took that picture of the cotton slurry I asked the papermakers whether that slurry was safe to eat. They said that it was basically only cotton in chlorinated water and was probably safe to eat. These elevated levels of chlorine made it about as dangerous as drinking the swimming pool water at the local YMCA which, while it wouldn't kill you, it's not a good idea. When the water drains away during the papermaking process and is recycled to be used again, that most of the chlorine is goes with it and the balance of the chlorine evaporates into the airduring the drying process.

However, if you ask about colored papers you will get a different reaction. I will ask the question of some of the leading paper makers on the question of dyes in particular, and paper ingredients in general, and continue this topic on antoher date.