# How can dry-erase markers possibly be non-toxic?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-dry-erase-markers-possibly-be-non-toxic/217196>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 5, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-dry-erase-markers-possibly-be-non-toxic/217196 "2003-12-05T18:01:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\
**Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-dry-erase-markers-possibly-be-non-toxic/217196/1 "2003-12-05T18:01:59Z")

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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?

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**Author:** ![Flash-57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/839c29/32.png) [@Flash-57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flash-57)\
**Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-dry-erase-markers-possibly-be-non-toxic/217196/2 "2003-12-05T21:58:53Z")

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“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.

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**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\
**Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-dry-erase-markers-possibly-be-non-toxic/217196/3 "2003-12-05T22:03:54Z")

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**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.

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**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\
**Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-dry-erase-markers-possibly-be-non-toxic/217196/4 "2003-12-05T22:40:57Z")

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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.

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**Author:** ![Flash-57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/839c29/32.png) [@Flash-57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flash-57)\
**Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-dry-erase-markers-possibly-be-non-toxic/217196/5 "2003-12-05T22:46:54Z")

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Granted. But then, isn’t almost everything toxic if consumed in large enough amounts?

Some people now say that too much water can be toxic.

[http://www.vitaminexpress.com/healthnotes/newswire\_2003\_07\_03\_1.htm](http://www.vitaminexpress.com/healthnotes/newswire_2003_07_03_1.htm)

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.