Bic pens - what type of plastic?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the type of plastic used in Bic pens, particularly those that were commonly provided in schools. Participants share personal experiences related to chewing on these pens and the effects they noticed, including numbness and a bitter taste. The conversation touches on nostalgia, childhood habits, and speculative theories regarding the materials used in the pens.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant recalls that chewing on the pens caused numbness and swelling of the lips and tongue, speculating that the plastic might be PVC.
  • Another participant humorously comments on the mental health implications of chewing pens.
  • Several participants share their own experiences with chewing pens, noting varying degrees of adverse effects, with one mentioning only a bitter taste.
  • A participant suggests that the symptoms described might relate to the ink components of a different pen brand, the Papermate Flair, and proposes a theory involving CIA experiments on Canadians.
  • There is a light-hearted exchange about the nature of chewing habits and personal anecdotes related to writing instruments.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a mix of personal experiences with chewing pens, but there is no consensus on the type of plastic or the reasons behind the effects described. Multiple competing views and theories are presented without resolution.

Contextual Notes

Some participants reference specific chemical components and their effects, but these claims remain speculative and are not universally accepted within the discussion.

DaveC426913
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When I was a young lad, schools provided Bic pens to write with. They are not the usual pens you are used to, these pens were solid dark-blue, round in cross-section (not polygonal), and both the pen and the cap tapered gently. When capped, the cap almost divided the pen in half (i.e the cap was about 3" long). Also, the gripping handle was bumply, like a cobblestone road, writ teeny.

I have been unable to find a pic of these pens online, so here is a sketch:

bic-pen.png
Anyway, the thing about them is that, when you chewed on them (and you did chew on them), they would make your lips and tongue go numb and swell like you had a fat lip. It was a pretty dramatic effect for something that was supposedly safe for youngsters. They also tasted awful - bitter.

What kind of plastic might that have been to make your lips and tongue go numb? It didn't take much. Even if you didn't chew them, and just stuck them in your mouth, wherever they touched you'd get numbness, a bitter taste and swelling (obviously, it was stimulating the erectile tissue of which your lips are comprised).

I'm thinkin' some kind of PVC?
 
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Uh huh. This explains a lot about your mental health. :p
 
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I'm not sure about other people, but when I get excited, my lips don't become erect. ;)
 
SteamKing said:
I'm not sure about other people, but when I get excited, my lips don't become erect. ;)
Yes, but Dave is different than the rest of us. :)
 
Ewwww, I never chewed on any writing instrument. Do you suffer from pica?
 
Evo said:
Ewwww, I never chewed on any writing instrument. Do you suffer from pica?
I have never heard of pica, I goggled, now I have to ask if earthworms fall into the pica category:eek: ?o_O

Another google, .07cal/worm, guess I have an answer:cool: an event of my early, early childhood:(
 
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Gee Evo, I thought you were casting Dave as a font type size :D I was going to suggest that he's about an 8.
 
phinds said:
Gee Evo, I thought you were casting Dave as a font type size :D I was going to suggest that he's about an 8.
LOL!
 
Hey, I'm a sans serif man. That's just the way I roll.
 
  • #10
I too remember chewing on those, but not to the point of feeling any adverse effect, except fot the bitter taste.
 
  • #11
Chewing pens knows no borders.
 
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  • #12
Borek said:
Chewing pens knows no borders.
Dave and I are both Canadian, so we were chewing the same pens!
 
  • #13
Who said you were the only ones chewing? Our pens were different in color and shape, but chewed to the death as well.
 
  • #14
I was a pencil chewer myself. We were too poor to have pens. And I had to walk to school 5 miles each way. Barefoot. In the snow. Carrying my sister on my back. And it was uphill. In both directions..
 
  • #15
DrClaude said:
... we were chewing the same pens!
?:)
 
  • #16
So, nobody remembers these pens??
 
  • #17
DaveC426913 said:
?:)
I meant the same kind of pen :rolleyes:
 
  • #18
DaveC426913 said:
So, nobody remembers these pens??
Well, come on, I mean who lives in Canda for goodness sake :p
 
  • #19
DaveC426913 said:
So, nobody remembers these pens??
I certainly do and If I look around my house and shop, I would almost bet I can find one:)

PS. It will most likely have teeth marks:eek:

Double PS. Went to the shop, through the rain, looked on the first floor level and got a little depressed when I realized that I might not have anything that "modern and up to date":eek: found a BIC pen still in cardboard packing priced at 25 cents, some lighters from the 50's (I think) but I have never been a smoker, pretty sure the pen is out there just might need a planned expedition:rolleyes:
 
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  • #20
SteamKing said:
I'm not sure about other people, but when I get excited, my lips don't become erect. ;)
Erectile Dysfunction ??:eek:
 
  • #21
It sounds like a Papermate Flair pen. I don't remember them having lumpy grips. Wiki claims that the ink is made of 1-propanol, 1-butanol, diacetone alcohol and cresols. I don't recall any of the symptoms you've described when I chewed on mine. It's my guess the the U.S. CIA contracted with the company and developed special porous bodies, which they sold in Canada. The lumpy grips would identify the porous ones, so any CIA operatives in Canada, would know not to chew on those.

Another theory is based on the fact that on the non-writing end, there was a short removable plug. If one chewed too hard at the right point, you'd get a small dose of the aforementioned ink components.

Wait! After some web surfing, it appears my first theory is correct:

(per wiki)
1. Diacetone alcohol ... occurs naturally in sleepy grass.
2. Sleepy Grass, aka Achnatherum robustum, contain ergoline compounds, such as lysergic acid amide (common name, ergine)
3. Ergine: In 1956, the Central Intelligence Agency conducted research...​

Canadians were probably used as guinea pigs, as a 1955 survey of the U.S. populace indicated, via linear interpolation, that intra-national experiments were turning them into brain dead zombies, which was somewhat confirmed yesterday in the national elections.
 
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