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Because pencil "lead" is not lead. Pencils haven't used lead cores since Roman times. However, lead poisoning was still possible up until the mid 20th century as the painted wooden casing often contain high concentrations of lead. Confusion about the source of the poisoning may have led (sic) people to think the core was actually made of lead, however the term "lead" does not refer to the carbon element itself, it's just a general term for a pencil's core. "Put some graphite in your pencil" just doesn't have the same ring to it as "put some lead in your pencil".

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13y ago

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