Just for fun! Pencils do not, and have never, contained lead of any sort. When graphite was first discovered, people called it black lead, because it resembled lead. Still, we call it lead, and think there’s lead in pencils. Caroline Weaver discusses pencil fact and fiction from her position as a pencil obsessive.
Source: 99U, March 20, 2017.
The first question you have to ask is, is it made out of good quality wood? You have to sharpen your pencil, so if it’s bad, that’s immediately an issue. The other thing that I don’t think people really pay much attention to, unless they know to look for it, is how well-centered the pencil is,” says Weaver.