this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 93 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Plus, inhaling graphite dust since it doesn't fall doesn't sound fun.

[–] [email protected] 68 points 2 months ago

Plus, graphite dust and electronics are also not a great combination.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Have you broken a pencil tip? I wouldn't want to breath that in after it goes flying.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Hardly anything is less problematic than graphite. No idea why you think that is an issue.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago (2 children)

You're probably thinking "it's just carbon, nbd", but that doesn't mean it's good for your lungs:

https://www.inchem.org/documents/icsc/icsc/eics0893.htm

"Repeated or prolonged inhalation of dusts may cause effects on the lungs. This may result in graphite pneumoconiosis"

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I mean water is toxic if you drink too much. The amount of dust of a pencil is negligible... now graphite from pencil production? Thats more concerning.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago (2 children)

“I mean, water is toxic if you drink too much”

Translation: “my argument is lazy and not really well thought out, I’m not going to even acknowledge your point, I’m just gonna double down”

[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 months ago

No it’s not. He said that the dose from writing with a pencil is trivial, but working in a factory that produces such pencils could potentially be dangerous, presumably because that’s a much higher sustained dose.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

You want a long drawn out answer? Ok then. Simple fact, our world is naturally dirty, just go outside in spring and you'll breathe in untold amount of pollen everyday. Yet our lungs cope. How? By excreting mocus and its cilia to carry out foreign material out. However, if an excess amount of foreign material overwhlems the protections the lungs offers, then problems occurs. That of course ignores materials that are toxic, radioactive, or carcinogenic. So unless you are using a pencil made from pure carbon-14... its harmless.

If you wanted clarification or a ELI5, next time just ask instead of being passive agressive.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Nothing is good for lungs, that's the point. Workers inhaling stuff for 8 hours, 5 days a week for 30+ years with 20 % having respiratory symptoms is the kind of "dangerous" we are taking about here. What is NOT problematic at such exposure?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (2 children)

What do you mean? Graphite can be fine or sharp, you saying it's fine to breathe in? I know I wouldn't want to breath in a broken tip of a pencil.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

All this concern about particles when breathing in whole pencils is the most dangerous of all!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

You had me in the first half, not gonna lie. Well and the second too.