Safety of Materials

[Almi]

Amityville, I like the way you think, and I like that that you question everything (I do, too), but you didn't really back your claims up with anything. I want proof!

Are you saying that I should just abandon this idea altogether and never try? I think that's silly. I'm going to at least try! There is no way you're going to get me to buy substrate sold at a pet store. I'm sorry. That's just the way it is. Based on the research I've done so far, the materials used in making those substrates are basically the same materials I have lying around, and they are, at the very least, just as questionable. I am confident I can find something that works without having to buy expensive pet paper products.

As of right now, I am using aspen wood shavings which I buy in bulk from a farm goods store. They are cost effective, compostable, and excellent for burrowing, but they are dry and dusty. I've actually used this stuff for years with seemingly no problems, so I'm not especially worried about it causing an allergic reaction in hamsters.

However, I do think that the dryness and dust could be irritating to the skin and respiratory tract in itself, so I'm trying to find a way to make the substrate hold more humidity. As well as be more interesting and comfortable for the hamsters. If I could do that for free, and it would free up space that is taken up by paper and cardboard, then that's a wonderful added bonus. A win-win-win, if you will. That's okay if it takes time. I am a stay-at-home parent with five little minions who need something to do anyway.

Any amount of substrate I would be able to make would be good in more ways than one, as I described. It would be in addition to what we already provide. Whether or not I find a way to do it that is effective...I guess we'll find out.

I'm pretty sure that dish soap, if rinsed thoroughly, can be washed off entirely...I use dish soap to clean rodent accessories. You can wash paper just like you can wash other materials (though the paper will probably break). I'll have to research the safety of dish soap...I've always considered it safe.

I am all for staying away from chemicals. I use things like borax, baking soda, vinegar, etc. for most of my other cleaning purposes. Maybe something like a pure castille soap would do? Or even coconut oil? Coconut oil remains a liquid when heated, so if I used water and coconut oil (over heat), or even some other type of edible oil, maybe that would help get ink out? I wonder if companies like those that sell Carefresh use anything to cleanse their paper bedding during production.

Speaking of oil, I tried an experiment. I took a glob of coconut oil and mixed it thoroughly with some wood shavings, enough to make it about 2" deep in a bin that is 31" x 13" (internal measurements). Though this wouldn't be that cost effective, it DID work to tame down dust and dryness. The shavings felt much less "crunchy" afterwards, and were obviously less dusty.

So far, I'm erring on the side of newspaper ink being relatively safe, especially if it's only black ink and especially if it's in small amounts. Anyone is free to change that if they can find some sort of evidence which might suggest otherwise.

The next step is going to be figuring out the best way to shred the paper and cardboard. Wish me luck!

[Drago]

I can't give specific evidence proving that newspaper is unsafe, but I avoid it with my hams simply because I'm overly cautious! I do however, use newspaper in my rabbit's litter pan and that tends to work well as it absorbs moisture and is cheap and easy to make. However, I have to agree with amityville and serendipity, simply because there is not ENOUGH evidence supporting either side of the argument, it's more of a "better safe than sorry" type of situation. Aspen bedding, despite being dusty and not quite as comfortable, is perfectly capable of being used in a hamsters cage. Aspen is cheaper, can be bought in larger bulk, and is completely safe to use. Though some say that aspen should not be used, I tend to disagree and say that even I sometimes use it as where I live, aspen is so cheap it's nearly free! In the end, what you decide to do is your choice, but ensure that one, it's thoroughly researched, and two, you have your hamster's best interests in mind. A quick note, never use baking Soda around hamsters, it is known to sometimes cause death and is definitely, without dispute, a dangerous substance. Even if you were to rinse it all away, residue could still remain and potentially harm your animal. Best wishes, and enjoy making bedding, but make it safe

[cypher]

I can understand your desire to keep dust to a minimum but I wouldn't do anything to the substrate to increase humidity, that's one thing you want to avoid as much as possible as it will encourage the growth of moulds & the spread of bacteria which could potentially harm your hamsters health.
Using edible oils on your substrate might just make it taste a bit too good to resist & it could be ingested too.

Regarding whether manufacturers clean the substrate I have no idea but as far as I know carefresh isn't paper but wood pulp.

[EnerHam]

The National Hamster Council mention not using newspaper here: https://hamsters-uk.org/content/view/29

"NEVER, NEVER, as suggested in some books, put newspaper under the sawdust, as chewing this could lead to poisoning." It's not exactly proof, but I'm betting they know more about hamsters than many of us combined.

To contrast, I also found a link that by the British coatings federation which stresses printing inks are not toxic when used for their intended purpose. Printing Inks - interesting facts
Pretty sure everything said there applies to humans, not hamsters, however, and not sure how using newspaper as hamster bedding would effect the 'intended purpose' part.

I was trying to find out exactly what was in newspaper ink, but I couldn't find a source. ALl I could find was a buch of anecdotal claims in which people say newspaper ink is toxic, don't use it, or others saying it is fine. I know rabbit owners often use in the bottoms of hutches without any complaints, but that's just me adding to the slew of anecdotes I just looked through. Sigh...

Just a word of warning about coconut oil: I use it as a hand moisturiser and one of my hams seems quite keen on it for some reason: lots of licks and nibbles. I know the amount you used won't be nearly as concentrated, but be careful. It may encourage them to put substrate in their mouths.

[AmityvilleHams]

It's really hard to find credible information on newspaper ink.You can't really rely on what is true about humans or other animals(even rabbits)because hamsters are very different animals.

While it may be fine used with rabbits,the chance of those rabbits actually eating the newspaper isn't as likely as with hamsters especially if you'd be having pieces mixed into your substrate.Evidence points in the direction of just not taking that risk,as it's either be more environmentally friendly or risk serious harm if not death which is not anything someone would ever want

On the note of adding coconut oil to shavings,it could make them desirable to eat for hamsters.Because of this,you'd take a huge risk at having hamsters pouch the shavings which would be very likely to cause injury.As mentioned you'd also introduce lots of problems with humidity from substrate.You wouldn't have the issue of dust and pouch injury with a safe substrate that isn't wood based,but I can understand not wanting to get the more expensive kinds.

There are alternatives to wood shavings which are much safer and have far less dust,but are at least more reasonably priced than Carefresh.I personally use Kaytee Clean and Cozy which in the natural or white varieties is very affordable.As long as you're putting a deep layer(4 inches or more)and not overcleaning it lasts a long time,especially in larger cages.It may not be quite as cheap as wood,but it saves you a ton of issues and potential vet bills that can be created by good intentions to fix those issues.

[Hamsterita]

I haven't read carefully the articles that I'm going to post, I don't have the time and it's difficult to me to read so technical texts, but overlooking them you can see that there are scientific proofs that ink is something that should be avoided when talking about hamsters
Carcinogenicity of Benzo(a)Pyrene and Dusts in the Hamster Lung (Instilled Intratracheally with Titanium Oxide, Aluminum Oxide, Carbon and Ferric Oxide) - Abstract - Oncology 1976, Vol. 33, No. 1 - Karger Publishers
Chemical analysis and genotoxicological safety assessment of paper and paperboard used for food packaging

These are only two papers, but I'm sure that there are more. You can look yourself on google scholar https://scholar.google.es/scholar?hl...+ink&btnG=&lr= It's a very useful tool. Google scholar restricts its search to books, papers and another professional/scientific sources, so its information is more reliable than a regular search on google. You can use it to search whatever you want, and you're very lucky because usually there are more information wrote in English than in other languages.

Anyway, I must agree with the defenders of better safe than sorry. Think that they are living beings, and that even if you mean well, if you make a mistake they can end up paying it with their lives.

If you want a diy proyect, you can try this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqQugFW0FYU. I'm not sure about its effectiveness, its odour control, or if you're really going to save money or not. But at least it's safe and it could entertain you and your children.

[EnerHam]

Ah, so coconut oil is desirable to hamsters.

The rabbit owners were using it because they believed the ink was made of vegetable dye, and therefore safe. Rabbits can be prolific chewers often ingest bits of what they chew, be that the furniture, newspaper or paint off the walls, so the fact owners were comfortable having in their rabbits living area made me consider its safety a little more.

In any case, I agree that it's better to be safe than sorry. If you're concerned about cutting costs, then consider the price of a vet bill if your hamsters become ill through this. It's not worth risking their health.

[AmityvilleHams]

Rabbits are prolific chewers,but not to the same extent as some other small pets like hamsters which would chew just about anything that gets into their enclosure.

[Almi]

Originally Posted by Drago

simply because there is not ENOUGH evidence supporting either side of the argument, it's more of a "better safe than sorry" type of situation. Aspen bedding, despite being dusty and not quite as comfortable, is perfectly capable of being used in a hamsters cage. Aspen is cheaper, can be bought in larger bulk, and is completely safe to use. Though some say that aspen should not be used, I tend to disagree and say that even I sometimes use it as where I live, aspen is so cheap it's nearly free! In the end, what you decide to do is your choice, but ensure that one, it's thoroughly researched, and two, you have your hamster's best interests in mind. A quick note, never use baking Soda around hamsters, it is known to sometimes cause death and is definitely, without dispute, a dangerous substance. Even if you were to rinse it all away, residue could still remain and potentially harm your animal. Best wishes, and enjoy making bedding, but make it safe

The reason I am doing research on this and considering taking a small risk is because I have everyone's best interest in mind. The hamsters are no more important than we are, and we are no more important than the hamsters. They are a part of our family and our household, and we're just trying to make things work as best we can in our situation. Posting about it here and getting insights and opinions helps us all learn.

I get what you're saying, but never trying anything for the sake of erring on the side of caution is not how I live. From my perspective, it could go both ways; I could also end up "safe and sorry." Like a missed opportunity. You can't know what's going to happen unless you try. I figure since no one can decide if it's safe or not, and science seems to err on the side of it being harmless, there's a pretty good chance newspaper ink in small amounts is not hazardous, and that's one reason I'm willing to take the chance. Another reason is that I've used shredded newspaper for hamster bedding before on many occasions in the past with zero problems. The only thing that makes me mistrust it is the fact it's man-made, not naturally-occurring.

Would it be sad and disappointing if I made my own bedding, and it ended up being harmful to the animals? Absolutely. Would I learn from it? You bet. We all would. Honestly, what I'm doing is not much different than what scientists do in their labs: trial and error. They harm and kill animals (including hamsters) all the time just to learn something, even if it's with good intentions. (Whether you or I think it's good or bad is just our opinion.) The difference is, I'm not going to harm my animals at any cost; if there's a problem I will fix it.

I have actually seen warnings on bags of aspen wood shavings that the dust can cause harm, including death, to small animals. Though, the bedding bags never cite evidence, I have never seen any actual evidence or any clues that this can happen, and many people still use aspen wood shavings for small animals with seemingly no problems. Likewise, bags of cedar and pine bedding, even to this day, are often labeled as safe for all small animals. It just doesn't make any sense. One thing is for sure, I refuse to believe something just because someone says it. I want proof.

Wow, is all of that really true of baking soda?! It's a dangerous substance? As far as I know, sodium bicarbonate is a salty, edible substance which has health benefits. I have personally used it for gut healing as well as baking. My animals probably come into contact with baking soda regularly. I am pretty sure it's 100% safe to use internally and externally, but I would be interested to see if you had any proof behind those claims. Btw, if you did get baking soda on something, vinegar helps get rid of it.

Originally Posted by cypher

I can understand your desire to keep dust to a minimum but I wouldn't do anything to the substrate to increase humidity, that's one thing you want to avoid as much as possible as it will encourage the growth of moulds & the spread of bacteria which could potentially harm your hamsters health.

Using edible oils on your substrate might just make it taste a bit too good to resist & it could be ingested too.

I have thought about these things. It's important to remember that there is a middle path to everything. I'm not talking about making dirty bedding wet in an enclosed area, I'm talking about increasing a substrate's ability to hold humidity in a clean, healthy environment.

Wood shavings and paper both seem dry, but they do still carry a small degree of moisture. A substrate's dustiness is related to the humidity around it (among other factors, of course). When there is less humidity, there is more static and dust. The only way a hamster is going to be breathing in dust is if it's dry and flying around, and if things are dry and staticky, that's probably not good for the lungs. However, if things are more humid (or otherwise lubricated, as with oil), the dust won't be flying around as much. If it is inhaled, it's less of a problem if the particles are more moist and the lungs are also well-lubricated (which will be the case in higher humidity). At least, that is my theory.

Some of you may have learned about the Dust Bowl as the United States went through a depression in the 1930's. One main factor contributing to the Dust Bowl was the removal of natural flora from the surface of the ground, which normally held humidity near the surface. The result was dusty soil that blew around everywhere.

The humidity of the substrate (and the surrounding air - which I think the consistency of the substrate can affect) matters for animals that are burrowing in it. Consider that hamsters might burrow for a number of reasons, and one of those reasons could be that going deeper under the surface of the soil sometimes meant a higher humidity.

There could be all sorts of things on wood shavings. For instance, if the hamster's food touches the shavings, it could make them smell good, especially if the food was wet. If you give your hamster peanut butter, and it gets on the bedding, there is a good chance the hamster will lick it off and not eat the bedding. Those edible hamster logs/huts have honey and molasses in them, but the hamsters don't seem to care as long as they have other things to eat.

Yes, hamsters do like coconut oil, but it doesn't seem to be their first choice of fat if others are available. You would have to starve them and make them desperate to get them to eat some wood that had a trace amount of coconut oil on it. As part of the experiment, I gave the hamsters some coconut oil to lick in their cage. They didn't seem overly interested in it. I'm not too worried about it.

Originally Posted by EnerHam

I also found a link that by the British coatings federation which stresses printing inks are not toxic when used for their intended purpose. Printing Inks - interesting facts
Pretty sure everything said there applies to humans, not hamsters, however, and not sure how using newspaper as hamster bedding would effect the 'intended purpose' part.

That's interesting.

"PRINTING INKS ARE NOT TOXIC

When correctly used for their intended purpose, printing inks do not place workers or consumers at risk. Toxic raw materials are not used at all, nor are raw materials known to be carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction (CMR). This principle is laid down in the EuPIA Exclusion List for Printing Inks and Related Products. It encompasses all types of printing inks for all types of printing processes.

Whenever unacceptable human or environmental risks are identified, action is taken by the ink industry, including the voluntary removal or substitution of the hazardous substances, often well before any comparable regulatory initiatives come into effect."

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

Evidence points in the direction of just not taking that risk,as it's either be more environmentally friendly or risk serious harm if not death which is not anything someone would ever want

There are alternatives to wood shavings which are much safer and have far less dust,but are at least more reasonably priced than Carefresh.I personally use Kaytee Clean and Cozy which in the natural or white varieties is very affordable.As long as you're putting a deep layer(4 inches or more)and not overcleaning it lasts a long time,especially in larger cages.It may not be quite as cheap as wood,but it saves you a ton of issues and potential vet bills that can be created by good intentions to fix those issues.

Well, technically, not being "environmentally-friendly" is risking serious harm and death all over the planet. That may be a discussion for a different time and place, but let's not forget the bigger picture.

As far as a small amount of newspaper ink coming into contact with hamsters, I don't think the risk is serious harm or death. I think there is the possibility of something bad happening as the result of making hamster bedding the way I want to, but only because I think anything is possible due to the infinite nature of the universe. The risk seems to be a very small one at that; a one in a million type deal. Hamsters are probably more likely to fall prey to one of life's other "risks."

Even in science experiments where they used way more ink than my animals would be coming into contact with, the only side effect was skin irritation at the application site, and irritated skin can heal itself. I mean, we have to give rodents some credit; they have some serious survival adaptations. Their bodies expect to come into contact with toxins and foreign material during the course of their lives. From my understanding, as long as a body is kept happy and healthy, it can withstand and bounce back from quite a bit of "abuse" with no problems.

Basically, all I'm saying is that we shouldn't assume our hamsters are so fragile that a tiny bit of ink in their environment is going to cause health problems, and especially health problems which require intensive care. I would say that is highly improbable. (I pretty much feel the same way about wood shavings, but again, feel free to change my mind on that.)

Originally Posted by Hamsterita

I haven't read carefully the articles that I'm going to post, I don't have the time and it's difficult to me to read so technical texts, but overlooking them you can see that there are scientific proofs that ink is something that should be avoided when talking about hamsters
Carcinogenicity of Benzo(a)Pyrene and Dusts in the Hamster Lung (Instilled Intratracheally with Titanium Oxide, Aluminum Oxide, Carbon and Ferric Oxide) - Abstract - Oncology 1976, Vol. 33, No. 1 - Karger Publishers
Chemical analysis and genotoxicological safety assessment of paper and paperboard used for food packaging

These are only two papers, but I'm sure that there are more. You can look yourself on google scholar https://scholar.google.es/scholar?hl...+ink&btnG=&lr= It's a very useful tool. Google scholar restricts its search to books, papers and another professional/scientific sources, so its information is more reliable than a regular search on google. You can use it to search whatever you want, and you're very lucky because usually there are more information wrote in English than in other languages.

Anyway, I must agree with the defenders of better safe than sorry. Think that they are living beings, and that even if you mean well, if you make a mistake they can end up paying it with their lives.

If you want a diy proyect, you can try this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqQugFW0FYU. I'm not sure about its effectiveness, its odour control, or if you're really going to save money or not. But at least it's safe and it could entertain you and your children.

Ooh, links!

The first one you posted doesn't seem to have anything to do with newspaper ink. It seemed they were focusing on cigarette smoke and a few other things in the air.

The second one is interesting! But still not very conclusive.

Thank you for the resources. I'm probably going to use very little newspaper after all, since most of the newspaper these days has color ink on almost every page. I think what I'll be focusing on is cardboard, but cardboard sometimes has ink on it too, so it's still important to me to research ink in general. Plus, it's making me realize how much all of us come into contact with plastic and ink!

Btw, my friend, I am very aware of how karma works. No worries.

[Almi]

Hey guys. I know I'm slow to reply because I'm busy, busy, but I have been doing some research. Some of the information is copied and pasted from the links I provided.

Firstly, I wanted to know how cardboard is made. I found out that most paper products, whether they are toilet paper, computer paper, newspaper, or Kraft paper (used to make corrugated cardboard) are all processed in the same way, using the Kraft method.

The Kraft Process. Cardboard = Kraft paper + corn starch glue + ink + paraffin wax. Wood most commonly used: pine.

The wood is "impregnated" with sulfates. The wood is cooked into wood pulp. The finished cooked wood chips are blown to a collection tank called a blow tank that operates at atmospheric pressure. This releases a lot of steam and volatiles. The volatiles are condensed and collected; in the case of northern softwoods this consists mainly of raw turpentine.

The pulp is screened and washed with various chemicals. In a modern mill, brownstock (cellulose fibers containing approximately 5% residual lignin) produced by the pulping is first washed to remove some of the dissolved organic material and then further delignified by a variety of bleaching stages. In the case of a plant designed to produce pulp to make brown sack paper or linerboard for boxes and packaging, the pulp does not always need to be bleached to a high brightness.

The salts used in the pulping process are either sulfites (SO32−), or bisulfites (HSO3−), depending on the pH. The counter ion can be sodium (Na+), calcium (Ca2+), potassium (K+), magnesium (Mg2+) or ammonium (NH4+). Sulfite pulping is carried out between pH 1.5 and 5, depending on the counterion to sulfite (bisulfite) and the ratio of base to sulfurous acid.

The pulp is in contact with the pulping chemicals for 4 to 14 hours and at temperatures ranging from 130 to 160 °C (266 to 320 °F), again depending on the chemicals used. Sulfite pulp remains an important commodity, especially for specialty papers and as a source of cellulose for non-paper applications. It is used to make fine paper, tissue, glassine, and to add strength to newsprint.

Toilet paper is different than cardboard in that it is more commonly made out of hard woods, and also undergoes a bleaching process. Otherwise, it is processed and washed using the same chemicals.

Examples of process chemicals that are added to improve the production process: Surfactants (in the world, half are soaps), anthraquinone, emulsion breakers, defoamers, dispersing agents, detackifiers, complexing agents, and fixation agents.


At this point, I'm wondering how Carefresh bedding is made. Though I don't currently use it, I'm very familiar with it and its consistency. Further research revealed: Carefresh FAQ website says that their bedding is made out of "[pure white] virgin reclaimed paper fibers."

After reading this site and this site, I concluded it probably meant that Carefresh bedding is made out of paper that hasn't had ink printed on it. Carefresh is recycled paper. Even if it were made directly from virgin wood pulp, it would still have to undergo the paper pulping process in order to have the consistency that it does.

So if you're worried about things being "treated with chemicals," the fibers used to make Carefresh were. The Carefresh website also doesn't deny using chemicals in their bedding products, they simply state that "The exact formula is proprietary (much like Coke or Kentucky Fried Chicken) but all of our odor control ingredients are found in human grade products. All our active ingredients are human grade and often found in safe-for-human products like facial tissues."

I also question many "human-safe" chemicals and additives.


Supposedly, paper products are rendered safe because they wash the chemicals out. But what about the ink they put on afterward? What exactly, is in ink? I decided to find out.

Here is a website that answered my questions. It outlined the ingredients used in black newspaper ink, so I decided to research the safety of each.

Mineral oil: The World Health Organization classifies untreated or mildly treated mineral oils as Group 1 carcinogens to humans; highly refined oils are classified as Group 3, meaning they are not suspected to be carcinogenic but available information is not sufficient to classify them as harmless.

Carbon black: The current International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) evaluation is that, "Carbon black is possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B)". Short-term exposure to high concentrations of carbon black dust may produce discomfort to the upper respiratory tract, through mechanical irritation.

Asphaltum: Irritating to the skin and eyes on contact. Inhalation will cause irritation to the lungs and mucus membrane. Irritation to the eyes will cause watering and redness. Reddening, scaling, and itching are characteristics of skin inflammation. Follow safe industrial hygiene practices and always wear protective equipment when handling this compound. This product has no known chronic effects. Repeated or prolong exposure to this compound is not known to aggravate medical conditions. This product is not listed by NTP, IARC or regulated as a Carcinogen by OSHA.

Petroleum distillate: Petroleum distillates are volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and may be regulated in your area. Toxicity levels are considered low, but vary with the specific material. For example, kerosene is a possible carcinogen.

Lastly, there is a paraffin coating on some printed boxes. Paraffin is essentially harmless and is related to mineral oil.

I am sure you could remove ink from paper products with some mild cleansing chemicals, cooking, and rinsing.

Which is safer: natural shaved wood, or chemically-processed paper product?