For the white board in our office, we have the standard dry-erase markers. About 10 seconds after taking the cap off, the fumes start to get to me, and if I don’t stop using it, I will get a headache that just won’t quit.
The label says “non-toxic”, but doesn’t that reaction seem pretty damn nasty?
“Non-toxic” could probably mean anything. It sounds like the way they are using it means, “it won’t kill you.” A lot of non-toxic things can make you woozy. Alcohol, for example.
Flash: Eh, alcohol is toxic. It will kill people and bacteria and other living things. If you think it won’t, check up on cirrhosis of the liver and brain damage.
In fact, I think that anything that makes you woozy will kill you, because it must be toxic to some degree. I might be wrong, though.
Non-toxic doesn’t necessarily mean that the materials used aren’t toxic. Keep in mind this is an industry definition (probably ASTM 4236,) not a literal one. If you eat the marker, you might get sick, but you probably won’t die.
My point was that alcohol, in the levels that might be found in a beer or a dry-erase marker, are not toxic (in the sense that you’ll be in the hospital or morgue tomorrow).
And, I think, that’s what the marker manufacturer meant as well.