dichromate safety - bromoil

walter23

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Hi, I've ordered some dichromate for bromoil bleach/tan solution and I'm wondering how you guys handle it? It's a known carcinogen and also very acutely toxic as you know, so obviously minimizing exposure is the game here. Have any prominent bromoilists ever gotten The Cancer from working with the stuff? How do you protect yourselves?

I've worked in a lab environment before (biochem & chem university degrees), so I have reasonably good safety skills when working with chemicals, but I'm still a little hesitant to start messing with this stuff in the darkroom. Tell me you're all 85 years old and have been happily working with the stuff all your lives and I'll feel better
 

Vaughn

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I have only been using dichromates (sensitizing carbon tissue) since 1992. So far so good. But I do need to be more careful and wear gloves more often.

The chemical(s) that have hurt me the most has been platinum and palladium dust -- kicked up from blow-drying freshly coated sheets of paper. Its the ones you don't know the hazards of that will get you! (I don't blow-dry my platinum/palladium paper anymore, but I now have a minor case of asthma.)

Vaughn
 

rusty71

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Any info you're likely to get here is anecdotal. Best to follow safety precautions to the hilt. Get the MSDS and do exactly as it says. Very likely gloves and a decent respirator when working with the powder. Get the industrial grade safety equipment. Every good size city has a supplier. Check the yellow pages.
 
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walter23

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I can't argue with that, rusty. I think I will do exactly that, I don't take these things lightly.
 
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walter23

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JD photo chem in Quebec (just do a google search). I don't know if she can ship to europe or not, but her prices are excellent.
 

RobertP

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Bill, (JD photochem), google that
 

sanking

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I am not 85 years old yet but I have been using dichromate on a constant basis since the early 1980s in carbon printing, which is not unlike what you will be doing with bromoil.

Exercise reasonable care and there should be no concern for your health. I avoid contact with dichromate solutions by wearing gloves, and short of ingestion, which I never plan, all should be well.

Sandy King
 

Sparky

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I used to make mock volcanoes using potassium dichromate. Try it... take a spoonful and set it aflame with a match. It's pretty cool. Not terribly dangerous.
 
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walter23

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Not terribly dangerous? Do you realize how carcinogenic the stuff and it's degradation byproducts are? But anyway - it's an oxidizer, not a fuel, so I don't see how it could burn. Are you sure it was potassium dichromate and not something else?

EDIT: Actually I looked it up and it's ammonium dichromate that makes the volcano reaction... and the decomposition product isn't nearly as bad as dichromate or chromate, apparently. Still wouldn't want to do it, because the ammonium dichromate itself is still extremely toxic before it burns.
 
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Sparky

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hmmm... perhaps it was ammonium dichromate... oh stop being such a pussy walter...! Have a nice swig of selenium toner and enjoy life...!! (j/k)

on a related note (maybe this demands a WHOLE NEW thread...!) - I once, while trying to load up the wing-lynch E6 processor at an ad agency I worked at in the 80s, got into a compromising position and had a cubetainer of colour developer pour ALL OVER MY HEAD - glug glug glug...!! ack!!! Being pretty good in an emergency - I RAN into the black and white room and immersed my entire head in a tank of stop bath... I'm right as rain now - except for that damn persistent facial tick...!! (j/k)
 
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walter23

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Haha, man. What's in E6 developer anyway? Something basic I take it?

Too bad you didn't fix your head next.
 

Mike Wilde

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Colour developers - chemistry hazards

Usually quite alkaline ie pH12 - more so than B&W, frequently by means of TEA, or TSP as well as the ppd derived colour developer CD3- another not too good for you chem.

From a sample home brew formula:

Sodium hexametaphosphate (Calgon) 2.0 g
Trisodium phosphate crystals 36.0 g
Sodium hydroxide 3.0 g
Sodium sulphite, anhydrous 4.5 g
Sodium bromide 0.65 g
Potassium iodide 0.1 per cent solution 30 ml
Sodium thiocyanate 1.3 g
Citrazinic acid 1.25 g
CD3 11.0 g
 
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