other crops. Soy ink also has low levels of VOCs, (volatile organic compounds) which helps to reduce air pollution by minimizing toxic emissions. Since naturally clearer Soybean oil is available, it is possible to obtain as brightly colored ink as by using clear petroleum distillates. By using clearer soy bean oil grades, less pigment is necessary to produce the same optical effect, which reduces the overall cost of the ink. Recent studies involving engineering of certain oils in the bean have resulted in even clearer oils. Some printers report that they need less ink to print the same amount of paper when compared to petroleum inks. Soy ink has been found to spread approximately 15% further, reducing ink use and printer cleanup costs. Newspapers use soy ink regularly, especially for color because it creates a sharper and brighter image. Color newspaper inks are more competitive to petroleum-based inks as well. They are only about five to ten percent more because the price is more due to the cost of the pigment, which is not as big a factor with black inks. Color soy inks are more widely accepted because they become the most quickly cost effective after savings in terms of excess pigment, VOC and printer cleanup costs. This “overall cost” for soy inks is significantly lower than the initial market price, and it is at this point that they become competitive with their petroleum counterparts. Soy inks also work well for label printing as they allow a reduction in ink coverage by 85% compared to water-based inks. Disadvantages A major problem with soy ink is that it takes more time to dry than petroleum-based inks, due to its lack of evaporative solvents in the form of VOCs. This creates challenges for some printing presses, especially those that use coated papers (such as magazines) instead of porous, uncoated paper (such as newspapers) where the ink can dry via absorption or IR in-line heaters. Current studies into UV-reactive ink curing are being conducted by many ink producers, most prominently the Flint Group. This process dries much faster, is cheaper, uses less energy, and emits no VOCs. This requires a significant equipment change and has not been scaled down to consumer size as of 2006. Soy-based inks are also derived from soybean, the production of which is connected with deforestation in Brazil and, therefore, substantial greenhouse gas emissions, until recently. References External