# Does Pen Ink hurt your skin?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-pen-ink-hurt-your-skin/48783>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 7, 2001, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-pen-ink-hurt-your-skin/48783 "2001-01-07T00:28:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![south333](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@south333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/south333)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2001, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-pen-ink-hurt-your-skin/48783/1 "2001-01-07T00:28:58Z")

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hey this has been bugging me for a while now. I have always been told by teachers parents or whomever that writing on your skin can hurt it, i dont know how, but they say it does. does anyone know the truth about this?

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**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2001, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-pen-ink-hurt-your-skin/48783/2 "2001-01-07T03:33:06Z")

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I doubt it. I write on myself all the time (sometimes even on purpose) and I’m still alive.

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**Author:** ![Shane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shane/32/10599_2.png) [@Shane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shane)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2001, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-pen-ink-hurt-your-skin/48783/3 "2001-01-07T03:47:20Z")

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I’m guessing they just say it because they don’t want to see marks on you all the time. Either that or they don’t want you to have the satisfaction. 🙂

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**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2001, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-pen-ink-hurt-your-skin/48783/4 "2001-01-11T05:30:45Z")

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Whenever someone sees me making notes on my wrist, he or she usually says something along the lines of “You’re going to get ink poisoning.” I’ve never experienced this mysterious malady, so I’m curious about whether it’s a remnent of the inks used in the past. A friend of mine, who applied elaborate pen-ink tattoos at camp, said people did begin feeling woozy, but that was only after using large amounts of ink.