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Thread: Poison paintballs?

  1. #1
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    Poison paintballs?

    I've eaten an embarrassing number of paintballs in my life, I don't want to mention numbers but suffice it to say that I've won contests. They taste like crap, have an unpleasant texture, and make your stomach feel the same as it does the morning after a long night of tequila and tacos. That said, they're perfectly safe to eat, at least for humans.

    From what I understand paintballs consist of perfectly safe food-grade ingredients as follows:
    -Gelatin
    -PEG
    -Starch
    -Vegetable Glycerin
    -Titanium Dioxide
    -Sorbitol
    -Food Coloring

    Anyhow I've been hearing stories, rumors, rants and more lately about how dogs and cats could die if they eat paintballs... Usually it's a handful of balls cast aside unbroken, or broken ones licked off a wall or a tree; no story that I've found mentions a dog sticking his head into a case and munching a whole bag. My fiance, who works with animals for a living, grew very concerned after an article in the local paper - we've got dogs and lots and lots of paintballs.

    Now I had a golden retriever who lived to be almost 13, and he ate paintballs whenever he could get his paws on them. He was very well trained, didn't beg at the table, didn't chew things he shouldn't, stayed at your heel and awaited commands, but he went nuts for paintballs. Other than the occasional odd-colored poop I never saw any harmful effects.

    Here are some links:
    http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/paintballs/
    http://www.examiner.com/article/unde...s-to-your-dogs
    http://championofmyheart.com/2010/12...nicolor-vomit/
    http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...7202045AAljabH
    http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...9220926AAIGo0m


    Clearly nothing trustworthy or expert to be found - anybody got solid intel either way?

  2. #2
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    My cocker spaniel mows down on the things, and he's just fine. He's never gone ham on a case though, just unbroken ones on the ground.

  3. #3
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    Well your 3 most dangerous chemicals in the mix are

    PEG(s) Polyethylene glycols http://link.springer.com/chapter/10....7643-8679-5_8#

    Titanium Diooxide http://www.organicmakeup.ca/ca/titaniumdioxide.asp

    Sorbitol http://www.buzzle.com/articles/sorbi...e-effects.html

    all of these chemicals in larger quantities are quite harmful in humans, and dogs.
    While the immune system of all mammals has a common ancestry, dogs have not been as exposed to the same amount of engineered chemicals as humans

    Is a dog more or less suseptable to these chemicals? No one really knows (and I hope they don't do the animal testing to find out)

    These chemicals are not safe for human consumtion so I wouldn't feed them to my dog, and i would probably stop eating them if i were you... unless you'd like to join me for treatment


    oddly enough Sorbitol can be mixed with Saltpeter, a preservitive in foods, (Potassium Nitrate) and form an explosive that is commonly used as solid rocket booster fuel

  4. #4
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    "Other sugar alcohols such as sorbitol and mannitol have little to no effect on blood glucose concentrations or insulin secretion in dogs,6 although over-ingestion may result in an osmotic diarrhea. Artificial sweeteners, such as saccharin, aspartame, and sucralose, are generally regarded as safe and should not cause significant illness if large amounts are ingested."

    http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com...date=&pageID=3

    So at least sorbitol should be relatively safe.

  5. #5
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    I never understood why paint companies can't make them taste even a little better.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by BTAutoMag View Post
    I never understood why paint companies can't make them taste even a little better.
    Hmm. You may be onto something... Grape flavored/edible paintballs anyone? If you get hungry on the field, just grab a pod and start chowing down! They could be fortified with vitamins and such. We could start marketing paintball as the healthy alternative!

    Go one step further and fill them with some sort of Red Bull infused gel for that extra bit of boost you need...

  7. #7
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    red bull paintballs... like a shot of adrenaline TO THE FACE!


  8. #8
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    Mmmm. Jelly filled paintballs...Or custard.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Laku View Post
    "Other sugar alcohols such as sorbitol and mannitol have little to no effect on blood glucose concentrations or insulin secretion in dogs,6 although over-ingestion may result in an osmotic diarrhea. Artificial sweeteners, such as saccharin, aspartame, and sucralose, are generally regarded as safe and should not cause significant illness if large amounts are ingested."

    http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com...date=&pageID=3

    So at least sorbitol should be relatively safe.
    not going to deep into alcohol sugers but all of them interact negatively with other chemicals present in the body.
    aspartame is probably the worst i can think of from the list. when aspartame is ingested it is broken down by stomach acid (hydrochloric acid specificly) forming:

    1) methanol, which is used as antifreze, when processed by the body it forms formaldehyde, an embalming fluid. high levels of formaldehyde in the large intestine CAUSES cancer
    2) Phenylalanine, used in the manufacture of food/drink, sold as nutritional supplements, for its reputed analgesic and antidepressant effects blocking neural receptors in the brain
    3) Aspartic acid, which is a know excitotoxin creates a "nuero toxic cloud" in the brain which floods the nuerotransmitters causing nerve damage similar to a micro stroke

    I hope people take this seriously. Just because some gov't agency (FDA) allows it in your food does not make it safe to eat. There is a reason alot of the food the US eats is banned in other countries and the number 1 reason why the great USA is the world leader in obesity and cancer


    Aspartame Side Effects

    The FDA has received reports of at least ninety-two side effects associated with aspartame. These include the following:

    * Headaches
    * Dizziness
    * Mood swings
    * Vomiting or nausea
    * Abdominal cramps
    * Vision problems
    * Diarrhoea
    * Memory loss
    * Fatigue
    * Rash or hives
    * Sleep disturbances
    * Change in heart rate
    * Seizures and convulsions
    * Difficulty breathing

  10. #10
    Everything is toxic in sufficient quantities.


    My contention is that they should be filled with nacho cheese, and there should be a bag of tortilla chips waiting for you in the dead box.
    "Accuracy by aiming."


    Definitely not on the A-Team.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by rukh013 View Post
    not going to deep into alcohol sugers but all of them interact negatively with other chemicals present in the body.
    aspartame is probably the worst i can think of from the list. when aspartame is ingested it is broken down by stomach acid (hydrochloric acid specificly) forming:

    1) methanol, which is used as antifreze, when processed by the body it forms formaldehyde, an embalming fluid. high levels of formaldehyde in the large intestine CAUSES cancer
    2) Phenylalanine, used in the manufacture of food/drink, sold as nutritional supplements, for its reputed analgesic and antidepressant effects blocking neural receptors in the brain
    3) Aspartic acid, which is a know excitotoxin creates a "nuero toxic cloud" in the brain which floods the nuerotransmitters causing nerve damage similar to a micro stroke

    I hope people take this seriously. Just because some gov't agency (FDA) allows it in your food does not make it safe to eat. There is a reason alot of the food the US eats is banned in other countries and the number 1 reason why the great USA is the world leader in obesity and cancer


    Aspartame Side Effects

    The FDA has received reports of at least ninety-two side effects associated with aspartame. These include the following:

    * Headaches
    * Dizziness
    * Mood swings
    * Vomiting or nausea
    * Abdominal cramps
    * Vision problems
    * Diarrhoea
    * Memory loss
    * Fatigue
    * Rash or hives
    * Sleep disturbances
    * Change in heart rate
    * Seizures and convulsions
    * Difficulty breathing
    Except you would have to ingest such massive quantities of these chemicals for anything bad to happen.
    Educate yourself. People like this are the reason sites like SNOOPS.com exists.. Cant research it yourself? Just believe what Wikipedia or FaceBook says! This article is not about the exact same chemicals but shows just how blown out of proportion people make things like this.
    http://pipeline.corante.com/archives..._education.php
    Written BY A CHEMIST...
    Last edited by DarkApollo; 10-04-2013 at 01:16 PM.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by BTAutoMag View Post
    I never understood why paint companies can't make them taste even a little better.
    Well because we wouldn't wear masks just goggles and we would run around with our mouth open trying to catch paint that would otherwise gog us. That and it would be easier than wiping to stay in the game, just lick your uniform clean and away you go.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by DarkApollo View Post
    Just believe what Wikipedia or FaceBook says!
    http://pipeline.corante.com/archives..._education.php
    Written BY A CHEMIST...
    Oh, the irony...

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by MAGgot View Post
    Oh, the irony...
    Whilst his methodology might be a little ironic, the message isn't. People constantly make wild claims by incorrectly extrapolating points, or exaggerate things grossly, either out of ignorance, or for some agenda. Usually, the original source is some chain-email, or a book by someone claiming that they can cure you of x, y, or z. When these claims can't be scientifically substantiated, they cry conspiracy, or some such nonsense straw-argument. Just consider the supposed "neurotoxic cloud" proposed above. Back in my days of a research biologist (and with several years of varying levels of chemistry under my belt), I can say I had never heard of such a thing. My life has gone in a different direction, but I still have never heard of such a thing until today. Why? Because it is some buzz-word that a salesman came up with.

    Furthermore, the products of aspartame in the human body, and their effects, are quite misrepresented. Is methanol produced? Yes, in miniscule amounts. Will it be broken down into formaldehyde? Yes, by alcohol dehydrogenase. OH NO! I'VE BEEN EMBALMED! Not quite. This equally miniscule amount of formaldehyde is quickly converted to formic acid, and discarded by the body.

    Phenylalanine? Sure, it occurs. It also occurs naturally in a lot of things we consume, and a common AA used for protein synthesis. If you are a PKU, you will have difficulty with it. A healthy person has no issues with it. The same with aspartic acid. It is found in may foods that people consider healthy, and also a naturally occurring AA precursor.

    Of course, you may find it more convenient to just rule this all out as a pharmaceutical-governmental conspiracy by a cabal of Rothschild Masons of the NWO.

    As for the cancer and obesity rates? It is rather myopic to blame that on something like sugar alcohols. That completely disregards many, many other factors, including skewed data due to better diagnostics in the US. But that is for another time.

    In short, your dog didn't die from paintballs because ingestion small amounts aren't toxic. You would probably have a bigger issue with the laxative effects.
    "My Jell-O is dying in the audience..."
    Merrill Howard Kalin

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