In the early days of paintball, the answer to that question would have been industrial paint and it was both toxic and not good for people or the environment. Paintball has come a long, long way in a very short period of time and the paintballs used in present day play are made to be both animal and people friendly and they simply disintegrate when left on a playing field and exposed to the elements as they are now made to be biodegradable.

A paintball is just a round ball that is made with a gelatin skin and filled with liquid dye. When a paintball hits a target going at a high enough rate of velocity, it will break and it leaves a mark on the target. The dye that is used within a paintball is the same type of dye that is used to color candies and ice creams but there are no artificial flavors so the taste is in the realm of being very nasty if you happen to get spattered in the chest area and the paint goes upwards and hits your mouth through the opening in the bottom of your paintball mask, you'll know first hand.

If you drop a paintball, leave it to degrade into the soil or throw it away. Once a paintball has hit the ground, the gelatin skin will attract and collect microscopic bits of dirt and debris that will adhere to the paintball. If you attempt to use a paintball that has been dropped in the dirt, the dirt on the gelatin skin will prevent the paintball from traveling freely when fired from a paintball fun and will either burst inside the paintball gun barrel or will exit but with a diminished velocity and will most likely bounce off your target instead of marking it.

Because of the gelatinous nature of the paintballs, they warp when exposed to extremes of temperature or humidity. So keep your paintballs ( whether in their packs and pods or not), stored in a cool and dry place and they'll always be ready to play when you are!