Are you "afraid" of the chemicals.?

I am taking a Beginning Photo class at my local college.
And i AM a beginner, but i took this class in 1978 when i was in high school.....and i have used a few darkrooms over the years. So i have SOME experience, it is not all new to me.
I do not think there is another student in the class that is within 30 years of my age. This stuff IS all new to them. It has been a joy watching "Young People" see the magic of the darkroom for the fist time.
I am all for safety and clean living...the less chemicals the better. There is no need to Bathe In The Developing Chemistry.....

Anyway.......the students have been told (rightly so IMO) that the chemicals in the trays are not good for you, that they should use the tongs to grab the paper and move it from one tray to the next. The teacher warned them that some people MIGHT be super sensitive to the chemicals, and to be aware the first day or two in case one of them might have a reaction.

A young lady was having trouble moving her 8x10 from Fix #1 to Fix #2.
So, with my bare hands, i picked it up out of the sink for her and gently dunked it into the tray for Fix #2.
I did it instinctively...not trying to be a darkroom bad-ass.....not trying to a darkroom James Dean.
I use the tongs 97% of the time...but sometimes it is easier to just grab the paper with bare hands, if you know what i mean.
The students that saw me do that were kind of shocked. For the looks on their faces, you'd have thought i just stuck my hands in battery acid.
I realize times have changed. We are all more aware about Smoke/Chemicals/Food Additives/Etc etc etc. I am not making fun of anybody or anything.
Do you Guys/Gals stick your fingers in The Trays when the "opportunity" presents itself.....or do you use the tongs 99.9% of the time.?
Once Again...Not a "Macho" thing.....Just kind of curious is all.

Tongs almost always, but I'm not concerned about the developer or fixer. Stop bath has always spooked me, so I've not dipped into that.

I'm not in the least afraid of the chemicals, just as I am not in the least afraid of driving my car.
I am careful with the chemicals, just as I am careful with driving my car.
My fingers have been in among the prints countless times in 50+ years - even if the numbers might turn out to reveal that I do use tongs 99% of the time.
I do have rinse water available though, and use it promptly after the fingers get chemicals on them.
Care and caution are always wise though.

I'm always fascinated to see at almost every movie where darkroom episode is involved how they do it no tongs, but bare fingers.

Theo Sulphate said:

Stop bath has always spooked me, so I've not dipped into that.

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I love vinegar on my fries, so essentially I eat stronger than normal stop bath.
Working strength stop bath is my least concern.
The concentrate before dilution? That stuff I'm really careful with.

Not afraid at all. I never use tongs. I hate them. I don't slosh my hands around in the solutions, mind you. I use gloves though, when I'm handling dichromates.

Im more concerned with proper ventilation than the occasional splash on my skin. Also not a good idea to get it in the eyes.

I use trays for both color and b&w printing but do mostly color. I do not use tongs or gloves but rinse and dry my fingers after each print, and wash my hands thoroughly with soap and water at the end of each printing session. I have been doing this for years with no ill effects.

CMoore said:

I am taking a Beginning Photo class at my local college.
And i AM a beginner, but i took this class in 1978 when i was in high school.....and i have used a few darkrooms over the years. So i have SOME experience, it is not all new to me.
I do not think there is another student in the class that is within 30 years of my age. This stuff IS all new to them. It has been a joy watching "Young People" see the magic of the darkroom for the fist time.
I am all for safety and clean living...the less chemicals the better. There is no need to Bathe In The Developing Chemistry.....

Anyway.......the students have been told (rightly so IMO) that the chemicals in the trays are not good for you, that they should use the tongs to grab the paper and move it from one tray to the next. The teacher warned them that some people MIGHT be super sensitive to the chemicals, and to be aware the first day or two in case one of them might have a reaction.

A young lady was having trouble moving her 8x10 from Fix #1 to Fix #2.
So, with my bare hands, i picked it up out of the sink for her and gently dunked it into the tray for Fix #2.
I did it instinctively...not trying to be a darkroom bad-ass.....not trying to a darkroom James Dean.
I use the tongs 97% of the time...but sometimes it is easier to just grab the paper with bare hands, if you know what i mean.
The students that saw me do that were kind of shocked. For the looks on their faces, you'd have thought i just stuck my hands in battery acid.
I realize times have changed. We are all more aware about Smoke/Chemicals/Food Additives/Etc etc etc. I am not making fun of anybody or anything.
Do you Guys/Gals stick your fingers in The Trays when the "opportunity" presents itself.....or do you use the tongs 99.9% of the time.?
Once Again...Not a "Macho" thing.....Just kind of curious is all.

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Having seen two very good friends each develop allergic reactions to Metol in developer, from working with their hands in the trays, I not only use tongs but gloves and so did they after getting the allergy. Skin allergies don't give much warning. While it may take a while to develop the allergy, one day you don't have it and the next day you do. These were both professionals
and were too busy to use tongs and gloves. After getting the allergies, they FOUND time.....Regards!

oldtimermetoo said:

Having seen two very good friends each develop allergic reactions to Metol in developer, from working with their hands in the trays, I not only use tongs but gloves and so did they after getting the allergy. Skin allergies don't give much warning. While it may take a while to develop the allergy, one day you don't have it and the next day you do. These were both professionals
and were too busy to use tongs and gloves. After getting the allergies, they FOUND time.....Regards!

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But one has to wonder whether they left the chemicals on their skin for very long or did they rinse/wash their hands in a timely fashion as I do. I'm thinking that could make a difference in the body's reaction in developing the allergy.

My darkroom sink Is Not big...maybe 4' long and 20"deep. So i cannot have a permanent Wash/Holding tank set up. But i DO keep a 1 liter/35 Oz plastic jug in the sink that is filled with water. If i stick my fingers in a tray, i sink my hand into the water afterward.
I try to be somewhat cautious... not cavalier... about the whole thing.

As the OP indicates with quotes "afraid" really isn't the correct term "respect" would be much better. Chemicals of concern are the color developing agents and phenylenediamine which can cause allergic reactions. Pyrogallol and Amidol are more dangerous and can cause systemic poisoning as they are absorbed thru the skin.

RPC said:

But one has to wonder whether they left the chemicals on their skin for very long or did they rinse/wash their hands in a timely fashion as I do. I'm thinking that could make a difference in the body's reaction in developing the allergy.

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Well excessive washing/rinsing hands leaves them more vulnerable each time so tongs are advisable

Soeren said:

Well excessive washing/rinsing hands leaves them more vulnerable each time so tongs are advisable

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I don't see how, but what does it matter as long as they are washed?

I'm not at all "afraid" of chemicals but I respect them a lot. I installed a good ventilation in my shared darkroom, always clean the workspace and try to avoid spills, use thongs and gloves not to touch the solutions. I'm sure a drop of RA4 developer of bleach on my skin will not kill me, but I don't want to accumulate chemical exposure so I'm careful.

No much fear for ordinary film developing chemicals, but I use tongues to avoid cross tank contamiation or stainning of stuff due to residuals on my fingers.

As Gerald points out, it's really important to know what to be "respectful" of and take appropriated measures. The OP's snatching of a print from the fixer with bare hands is very low on the danger list (if at all). I can see the point of a teacher of beginners simply making a policy that bare hands should not be used in photo chemicals, but better is a thorough knowledge of specific chemicals and the risks they present. Dipping fingers in acetic or citric acid stop bath or any of the commonly-used fixers presents very little danger. Other chemicals need more respect. Metol is notorious for causing contact dermatitis; some developing and toning agents can be absorbed through the skin and are toxic and/or carcinogenic. Researching the specific chemicals you use is a really good idea.

I use PMK (pyrogallol is toxic and absorbed through the skin) film developer and develop in trays. My hands are in nitrile gloves for the entire session from before mixing chemicals until the developer has been discarded and the sink cleaned up. Only then they come off. I tend to avoid Metol (although I do use it to mix soft-working print developer) so as not to develop contact dermatitis, and I avoid putting my hands in selenium toner.

When printing, I use tongs (I like the old-fashioned bamboo ones). For larger prints I use a pair of tongs, one in each hand, for print handling. That said, I don't hesitate to use my hands when needed. Sometimes, when I'm using a PQ print developer, stop and a dilute rapid fixer, I'll just use bare hands when needed, but when toning, etc., the nitrile gloves come out. I can wear a pair for an entire session; I just wash and dry them like they were my hands, making sure to inspect them for tears/holes after each washing. Nitrile gloves are so easy to work with and so cheap that it seems to me simple good practice to use them when there is any question of the safety of the chemicals. That might be a good idea for a beginner photo class...

Best,

Doremus

I don't handle photo chemicals with bare hands unless I'm doing something very innocuous like cyanotype coating.

For anything else, whether it's mixing Silver nitrate solution, or mixing developer from scratch, handling acids (unless very dilute), or doing normal darkroom printing, I wear well-fitting nitrile gloves.

You can wash your hands while wearing nitriles too, and they have the nice advantage of not leaving finger marks should you accidentally handle an irreplaceable negative or sheet of expensive paper improperly.

I find tongs a clumsy pain to use.

As for "afraid", no. Appropriately careful about how I handle chemicals, yes.

CMoore said:

I am taking a Beginning Photo class at my local college.
And i AM a beginner, but i took this class in 1978 when i was in high school.....and i have used a few darkrooms over the years. So i have SOME experience, it is not all new to me.
I do not think there is another student in the class that is within 30 years of my age. This stuff IS all new to them. It has been a joy watching "Young People" see the magic of the darkroom for the fist time.
I am all for safety and clean living...the less chemicals the better. There is no need to Bathe In The Developing Chemistry.....

Anyway.......the students have been told (rightly so IMO) that the chemicals in the trays are not good for you, that they should use the tongs to grab the paper and move it from one tray to the next. The teacher warned them that some people MIGHT be super sensitive to the chemicals, and to be aware the first day or two in case one of them might have a reaction.

A young lady was having trouble moving her 8x10 from Fix #1 to Fix #2.
So, with my bare hands, i picked it up out of the sink for her and gently dunked it into the tray for Fix #2.
I did it instinctively...not trying to be a darkroom bad-ass.....not trying to a darkroom James Dean.
I use the tongs 97% of the time...but sometimes it is easier to just grab the paper with bare hands, if you know what i mean.
The students that saw me do that were kind of shocked. For the looks on their faces, you'd have thought i just stuck my hands in battery acid.
I realize times have changed. We are all more aware about Smoke/Chemicals/Food Additives/Etc etc etc. I am not making fun of anybody or anything.
Do you Guys/Gals stick your fingers in The Trays when the "opportunity" presents itself.....or do you use the tongs 99.9% of the time.?
Once Again...Not a "Macho" thing.....Just kind of curious is all.

Click to expand...

with a little experience tongs are easy to use and don't damage the print.I'm respectful but not fearful of chemistry. There is indeed such a thing as super sensitivity to some developer chemicals and if you are one of the unfortunate few then fingers don't belong into the developer.

Bottom line, I use tongs to limit exposure when I can but I am not remotely afraid of the stuff I normally use. There are some things I MIGHT try some day that I would be more careful of (pyro for example, and I have a sneaking interest in doing wet plate one day which can be really nasty, chem wise) but for normal stuff, no.

RPC said:

I don't see how, but what does it matter as long as they are washed?

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You are washing off the skin's natural protective oils. Of course they will replenish in time but repeated washing in a short time will indeed dry the skin and make it more vulnerable.

For me I am more afraid of spilt chemistry to the floor and evaporating over time and then being trampled into the air as dust to breathe in than wet chemicals other than acids getting onto my skin.
Having grown up in the graphic arts industry photogravure/photolitho we practically bathed in the process chemicals and you could smell the fixer in the street approaching the building we worked in.
We lived with a towel over the shoulders almost constant rinsing hands in clean water.

I use tongs for B&W prints, but tray developing dry plates requires hands in the chemicals. The glass is too heavy and the emulsion too soft for tongs. I rinse my hands after touching...more to avoid contamination than safety to be honest. I pretty much only use HC-110 for plate dev.

I'm much more careful around color chemicals

Not afraid - just cautious. I am prone to a skin allergy when colour printing where the skin from my finger tips upwards as far as my elbows, (especially on my right hand side ill dry out and crack) I have eliminated it on my hands and fingers by wearing surgical rubber gloves, but my arms present a bit of a difficulty.
I put this down the the blix used with RA4 where the two are mixed. With C41 where there is a separate bleach/fix bath the problem does not happen.

With B&W there is no problem at all which can exclude the acetic acid stop baths use for both B&W and RA4 comes from the same concentrate and diluted to the same degree.

bare hands for developer and fix and wash + perma wash
and i try to use a poorly ventilated room for everything.