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© Copyright 1999, Jim Loy
Several people have told me that they saw an article in Billiards Digest, several years ago, saying that green chalk has lead (which is a dangerous substance) in it. I find this hard to believe. Chalk is calcium carbonate, which occurs naturally; an example is the white cliffs of Dover. Pool chalk has a bright colored pigment added. And many pigments contained toxic substances, years ago. There are many horror stories of people who painted, and people who removed paint, suffering terribly from the poisons in paints. But that situation has changed. The pigments in my paints are different from those of many years ago. Various colors (like Lead White) are no longer available. And many of the old colors are made from different chemicals. For example, Prussian Blue is now a harmless mixture of blue and green. You will search in vain for toxic paints.
Some people have told me that Billiards Digest never had such an article.
Addendum:
I sent email to the Tweeten Fibre Co., who make Master Billiard Chalk, asking them about their green chalk. They said that their chalk contains no harmful chemicals. The conspiracy theorists out there may want to take that as proof that there are harmful chemicals in billiard chalk. After all, if you deny that you are an alcoholic (or drug addict), that is proof that you are an alcoholic (or drug addict).