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In the 1960s and before, even black and white letters had some lead from the actual metallic letters used by typesetters—some rubbed off. Same thing with books printed before 1970 or so and libraries were concerned about kids' books and started to take the older ones off the shelves.

But what had a really large amount of lead was the funny pages, the pigment itself had lead and other metals. I assume this is no longer the case and if so, what is now used for color in newspapers and magazines?

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    $\begingroup$ Presently, the white color of the paper is due to $\ce{CaCO3}$ for ordinary paper, and by $\ce{TiO2}$ for precious documents. $\endgroup$
    – Maurice
    Commented Sep 9, 2021 at 19:59
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    $\begingroup$ Documents were not a major source of lead in the environment. Paint and some ceramic glazes were far more likely to cause danger to people. I actually doubt the idea that lead from typesetting was ever notable, pigments possibly so but I'd need to see real evidence lead was widely used. $\endgroup$
    – matt_black
    Commented Jan 16, 2022 at 17:43

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Into the 70's the better white paints were tri-metal; lead, zinc and tin (oxides). Titanium oxide (rutile) replaced the lead and the zinc and tin adjusted. The titanium has excellent hiding power so the whiteness actually improved. In addition in urban locations, the lead yellowed with age because of sulfur pollution. So a win/win for lead removal. Calcium carbonate is primarily a filler to reduce cost. Answer for house paint not printing inks.

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