# Do you have a piece of pencil lead embedded in your skin somewhere? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 21, 2010, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921 "2010-01-21T23:54:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/101 "2010-02-09T21:05:26Z")
Two, both in my left palm, about an inch apart. One done accidentally by me and the other done accidentally by a kid walking down the hall when I was in 7th grade. ---
**Author:** ![booklover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/102 "2010-02-10T00:47:54Z")
And I always thought I was weird for having one of these…4th grade, knelt on a pencil on the floor of my room while looking for something. It’s faded away now, though. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/103 "2010-02-10T04:48:06Z")
Yep, right palm, right along the lifeline. Coming up on 10 years – on the first day of a new job I didn’t have anything to do yet, so I sat arranging my desk. When one of my newly sharpened pencils started rolling off the desk I grabbed it by the business end, but the eraser end pushed against my laptop and in it went. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/104 "2010-02-11T23:46:08Z")
Yup first knuckle, ring finger, right hand… You can see it pretty clearly if you bend the knuckle. A friend and I were playing mumbletypeg with a pencil in English class. ---
**Author:** ![SkittyNya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SkittyNya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkittyNya)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/105 "2011-12-04T14:34:53Z")
I got mine when i was 9…its still visible mine is on my right arm.i got it when my friend WAS SHARPENING HER PENCIL!And yea she accidentally poked me. Well i don’t blame her for it though.i feel Sad just seeing it …i mean its not natural…but anyways everyone comforted me with their stories thank u!(gosh i hate this pencil lead). ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/106 "2011-12-04T15:13:02Z")
Yes, right forearm, where my brother jabbed me with a pencil. It is my only tattoo. ---
**Author:** ![ASanders](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asanders/32/3367_2.png) [@ASanders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASanders)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/107 "2011-12-04T15:35:09Z")
Two: One in the center of my left palm and one in my left knee. I remember only the knee incident, and that vaguely: it involved doing homework while splayed out on the livingroom floor, and an unfortunate roll-over. I’m not sure these are actual _points_ of the pencils though. I have always thought they were just marks left by the pencil tip. I don’t remember losing the tip of the pencil in either case. ETA they are fading with time, but both are more than 40 years old. ---
**Author:** ![conurepete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@conurepete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conurepete)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/108 "2011-12-04T15:45:29Z")
I had one, but the blue-ish color alarmed my dermatologist, who removed it and some surrounding skin for a biopsy. Turns out that is just the color pencils leads look in redhead skin. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/109 "2011-12-04T16:26:46Z")
I had one in my thigh for many years, but it is not visible now. I don’t recall when it stopped being visible. I just turned 50. ---
**Author:** ![RedWood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f08c70/32.png) [@RedWood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedWood)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/110 "2011-12-04T16:34:00Z")
Left forearm, my sister stabbed at me with the pencil… no mark, but the lump of broken-off “lead” is still there and I can feel it more than 30 years later. ---
**Author:** ![slm2955](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@slm2955](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slm2955)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/111 "2011-12-04T17:29:01Z")
Yes I still have a piece of lead stuck in the middle of my right palm from yrs ago. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/112 "2011-12-04T19:46:01Z")
I doubt the bit of pencil tip is still in their, but I have a blueish-black mark on my right knee from being stabbed with a pencil that was in my book bag point-up on the first day of first grade. ---
**Author:** ![Hbns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hbns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbns)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/113 "2011-12-04T20:59:27Z")
Right palm, still visible after 35+ years. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/114 "2011-12-04T21:08:13Z")
I’m flabbergasted by how many have responded in the affirmative. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/115 "2011-12-04T21:13:24Z")
I don’t know what’s more surreal. That people have lead in their bodies or that the OP pulled an all nighter in the fourth grade. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/116 "2011-12-04T21:24:10Z")
Zombie alert. For the record, you could see mine two years ago when I responded in the affirmative, and you can still see it now. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/117 "2011-12-04T21:49:02Z")
I know it’s a zombie but I can’t resist… 😃 Almost 48 years later I still see the blue mark at the base of my left pinkie. Fighting over a pencil with another kid when I was six years old. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/118 "2011-12-04T22:02:23Z")
I had a pencil in my shirt pocket and I brushed my hand down the front of my shirt. Bam! Straight into the side of my index finger. About 45 years ago and still visible. I also didn’t see this was an old thread until I had already voted, so thought I’d comment anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/119 "2011-12-04T22:18:48Z")
Mine was still visible 2 years ago when I responded \*and now it’s not./I]. That is kind of weird. Er…maybe I’m going blind? ---
**Author:** ![piepiepie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@piepiepie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/piepiepie)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921/120 "2011-12-05T00:09:19Z")
I broke off a tip of my pencil in my right palm in that fat part between my thumb and index finger. It’s been there since I was in third grade so that’s like 14 year old graphite floating around in there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-piece-of-pencil-lead-embedded-in-your-skin-somewhere/525921.md?page=7)