Pen sets for children: only a few are free of harmful substances
Colored pencils and felt-tip pens are simply indispensable in children’s rooms, school pencil cases and day-care centers. Because painting is fun, promotes creativity and is a great pastime. Stiftung Warentest took a closer look at all the pens for the start of school in 2018/19 and enlightened us about hidden pollutants.
If you paint and write eagerly, you have to reckon with the fact that the color of the pencils can also end up on your hands, clothes and even your face. It is therefore desirable that the colored pencils and felt-tip pens used are free of harmful substances.
Unfortunately, after its 2018 study, Stiftung Warentest drew a sobering conclusion, especially for the colored pencil sets.
12 sets with the grade “Poor”
In total, Stiftung Warentest subjected 35 pen sets for school supplies (17 colored pencils, 12 fiber pens and 6 ink cartridges) to a detailed test. The final result is sobering: the grade “poor” had to be awarded 12 times.
The colored pencils were searched for, among other things, preservatives, solvents, azo colorants and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). In fact, the specialists discovered traces of these pollutants, some of which are suspected of being carcinogenic, in a total of five sets. However, the testers did not find any plasticizers or heavy metals in any of the sets.
The following crayon sets received the grade “Poor”:
- “Bundstift-Set” by Müller
- “Kids Bundstifte” by Tedi
- “Writing world triangular colored pencils” by Rossmann
- “Noris Club Crayons” by Staedtler
- “Plus colored pencils” from Lamy
With fiber pens and ink cartridges , the specialists concentrated on the preservatives. Because these products work with water, they are more susceptible to mold and bacteria. “Some [manufacturers] resort to isothiazolinones, some of which can cause allergies,” writes Stiftung Warentest in their report . Traces of this dubious preservative were also found in the tested products.
The following fiber pen sets received the grade “Poor”:
- “Visa Markers” by Bic Kids
- “Fiber Pen” by Idena
The following ink cartridge sets received the grade “Poor”:
- Ink cartridges royal blue from Herlitz
- “Ink cartridges royal blue” from Kreuzer
- “T10, blue erasable” from Lamy
- “Rollerball Ink Cartridges, Royal Blue” from Online
- “4001 ink cartridges TP/6 royal blue” from Pelikan
Which pen is really pollution-free?
But not all tested pens perform so badly in the test. In each product category there is at least one set that is recommended, i.e. rated “Very Good” or “Good”.
When it came to colored pencils, the following sets performed best:
- “Colour Grip water-soluble colored pencils” by Faber-Castell (grade: 1.7)
- “Trio Thick Colored Pencils” by Stabilo (Grade 2.1)
- “Evolution Triangle Ecolutions triangular colored pencil” by Bic Kids (Grade: 2.3)
- “Kid’s World by Connor triangular colored pencils” by Mäc Geiz (Grade: 2.4)
- “Top Model Crayon Set Basic Colours” by Depesche (Rating: 2.5)
The following sets performed best for fiber pens:
- “Funtastics fiber pens” from Edding (grade: 1.0)
- “Fiber pen” by Herlitz (Grade: 1.0)
- “Kid’s World by Connor fiber crayons” by Mäc Geiz (Grade: 1.0)
- “Colorella Star fiber pen” by Pelikan (Grade: 1.0)
- “Cappi felt-tip pens” by Stabilo (Grade: 1.0)
- “Fiber pen” by Stylex (Grade: 1.0)
When it came to the ink cartridges , only the “Royal Blue Erasable Ink Cartridges” set from Schneider performed best. It was rated “Very Good” (1.0).
Draw and write safely
Stiftung Warentest advises parents to ensure that their children wash their hands after painting or writing. For larger paint stains, it is better to clean them up immediately.
Your child should also avoid chewing on the pencils. With colored pencils, for example, the pollutants are in the paint or in the lead. Stiftung Warentest therefore recommends parents to buy unpainted pens made of natural wood. “Although there is no acute danger from contaminated pens, we advise you to switch to harmless models as a precaution,” the report goes on to say.
When it comes to ink cartridges, however, caution is advised when choosing. Here parents should fall back on pollutant-free sets. In addition, the tip is: “Make sure that children do not paint themselves over a large area. If yes: don’t panic. Wash off the ink soon though.”