• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Science / Why is pencil lead called lead when they don’t have lead in them?

Why is pencil lead called lead when they don’t have lead in them?

April 9, 2020 by Karen Hill

Seeing that pencil “leads” are made from graphite, the name doesn’t make much sense, does it?

But there once was a time when people thought graphite was a type of lead, hence the name.

Lead is extremely toxic to humans and pencils should not contain any lead, even in the wood or paint.

This is especially true if kids or young children will be using them as they tend to bite everything they see.

Related Facts

  • The Best 20 Inventions Ever Invented
  • How Does an Eraser Erase Pencil Marks?
  • Why Does a Pencil Write?
  • How are Pencils Made and How do they Put Lead Into a Pencil?
  • Top 25 Inventions That Changed the World
  • How Is Handling Or Touching Lead Dangerous and Why Is Lead Toxic or Harmful To Children?

Filed Under: Science

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Can tone-deaf people be taught how to sing?
Next Post: What is graphite and When was graphite discovered? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy