The two primary components of every Crayola crayon are paraffin wax and colour pigment. Except for a few of the company’s speciality products, these ingredients are consistent among all of its crayons.
Before the crayon is cooled, the molten paraffin wax and colour pigment are mixed together and combined. While these are mentioned as the primary ingredients on the Crayola website, it is unclear whether additional ingredients are included in the colour pigments, as they are obtained from a third party rather than manufactured by Crayola. Peanuts, legumes, tree nuts, milk casein, nuts, nut oils, Red Dye #40, and latex are among the additional substances and potential allergens that Crayola admits may have been used in the production of its crayons and colour pigments.
Although “non-toxic” is printed on the crayon boxes, this is really a formality. This just indicates that there is not enough toxin in a single crayon to be declared poisonous, but that the crayon may contain harmful substances. In addition, paraffin wax is derived from petroleum, coal, and oil shale. The process of manufacturing paraffin wax may expose it to a variety of harmful substances that are not removed upon melting.
