Liquid Paper
 A bottle of Liquid Paper |
Liquid Paper, a brand name of opaque correction fluid, is used to cover up mistakes on paper without retyping the entire sheet. It was very important when material was typed with a typewriter, but has become less so since the advent of the word processor.
Contents |
Product History
It was invented by Bette Nesmith Graham in 1951 and originally called Mistake Out. Graham was a typist who developed a type of white tempera paint to cover up her mistakes. Her first batch was mixed together in a common kitchen blender.
By the 1970s, the product was available in colors other than white, such as blue and green, for use on forms printed in those colors.
The inventor offered the product to IBM, which declined. She sold the product, renamed Liquid Paper, from her house for 17 years. By 1968, the product was profitable and in 1979, it was sold to the Gillette Corporation for $47.5 million with royalties. [1]
Now, Liquid Paper can be bought in a pen. In 2000, Liquid Paper and related brands were acquired by Newell Rubbermaid.
Toxicity and Ingredients
Liquid paper came under scrutiny in the 1980s, due to concerns over recreational sniffing of the product. The hydrocarbon 1,1,1-Trichloroethane, was used as a thinner in the product[2]. Liquid paper using this thinner was thought to be toxic and cancer causing, but later studies have shown that although the thinner used was toxic there was no evidence of carcinogenicity[3]. There were a number of studies linking fatalities[4][5] to the trichloroethane contained in correction fluids, including Liquid Paper.
The removal of trichloroethane, by Gillette Corporation, from Liquid Paper commenced due to Proposition 65 declaring it hazardous and toxic[6]. Liquid Paper was reformulated so that trichloroethane was no longer used in the product[7], and as of 2009 the current product contains no toxic solvents.
Liquid Paper contains titanium dioxide, solvent naphtha, mineral spirits, resins, dispersant, colorants and fragrance.[8]
Related
- Correction Fluid
- Correction tape
- Wite-Out
- Tipp-Ex
References
- ^ "Gillette Paper Pact". New York Times. September 21, 1979, Friday. "The Gillette Company said it had agreed to acquire the Liquid Paper Corporation for about $47.5 million in cash. Liquid Paper, which is privately held, earned more than $3.5 million on sales of $38 million in its fiscal year ended April 30."
- ^ "Liquid Paper Correction Fluid, White. Material Safety Data Sheet". Ohio State University College of Biological Sciences. 01 January 1985. Archived from the original on 22 July 2009. http://www.webcitation.org/5iTQCQ8OH.
- ^ Sullivan, John Burke; Krieger, Gary R. (2001). Clinical environmental health and toxic exposures. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. p. 497. ISBN 068308027X. OCLC 41606485. http://books.google.com/books?id=PyUSgdZUGr4C&pg=PA497. Retrieved 23 July 2009. "Trichloroethane generally is less toxic than methylene chloride ... is not teratogenic and carcinogenicity and mutagenicity testing has proven inconclusive."
- ^ "Sudden Death in Adolescents Resulting Inhalation of Typewriter Correction Fluid". JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association 253 (11): 1604-6. 15 March 1985. PMID 3974043. http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/253/11/1604. "We describe four cases of sudden death in adolescents associated with recreational sniffing of typewriter correction fluid occurring during the period 1979 through mid-1984.".
- ^ "Fatal cerebral oedema following trichloroethane abuse.". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 83 (8): 533–534. August 1990. PMID 2231588.
- ^ Paddock, Richard C. (29 September 1989). "Gillette Agrees to Remove Toxics Useful Reference Encyclopedia Its Paper Correction Fluid". Sacramento: Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 22 July 2009. http://www.webcitation.org/5iTIv5LFW. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
- ^ Estrin, Norman F.; Akerson, James M. (2000). "Proposition 65". Cosmetic regulation in a competitive environment. New York, New York: Marcel Dekker. p. 138. ISBN 0824775163. http://books.google.com/books?id=O8z3Nn9HzKIC&pg=PA138. Retrieved 23 July 2009. "Gillette agreed to reformulate the product so that it would not pose a risk requiring a Proposition 65 warning"
- ^ "Paper Mate Liquid Paper Fast Drying Correction Fluid" (PDF). MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEET - MSDS #: 56401. Sanford NA. 2003. http://www.sanfordcorp.com/sanford/pdfs/Liquid%20Paper%20Fast%20Drying%20Fluid.pdf. Retrieved 2009-08-18.