Health risks of darkroom chemicals

^^^ The problem is 30-50 years ago this stuff wasn't paid much attention to... not even more recently. Even if manufacturers knew of the risks they played it down or covered it up.

If you did some school chemistry you already know how to handle ordinary chemicals and how to dilute acids etc. One of the photo chemicals with a bad reputation is pyrogallol. This link to an NTP summary might alleviate your fears (of photo chemicals) but ignite your fears of junk food and smoked food, both of which contain pyrogallol.

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A lot of assumptions. I wouldn't want to even think about offering darkroom classes without a mtn of liability insurance, and very carefully restricting the chemicals in it. Harmless? One mistake diluting acetic acid can ruin your lungs for life. Ordinary stop bath ain't necessarily harmless. I know people who made that kind of mistake and were debilitated for the rest of their life. Not everyone took a basic high school chemistry class, or even remembers it, or even has a decent fume hood. And anyone with a bit of background in this kind of thing knows that there are very very few studies on the superadditive physiological effects of small amounts of various chemicals. One of my close friends died at a relatively young age because he was an EPA inspector tracing these things - hard to say exactly which combination of chemicals or pesticides or whatever got to him, but they sure did. A friend of mine who cleaned the drain intakes of one of the biotech labs nearby had a stroke at 40, even though he'd ordinarily be considered low risk. And that was due to stuff that wasn't even EPA or hazmat regulated. I've seen long-term customers of mine argue about these kinds of subject, and by the time they turned 50 their hands
were shaking so bad they couldn't even sign their own name, from all the nerve damage. Yeah... be macho. There's a synonym for that:
FOOL.

MartinP said:

I've been using photographic materials for about forty years and now my hair is going grey. It must be the fault of the chemicals, surely?

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You must have a light case. I have a friend who has been a professional photographer his entire adult life and he LOST his hair - plus he's getting fat now.

There should be some kind of charity or support group for Old Photographers.
Maybe we should all wear Kodak Yellow ribbons to raise awareness to the problem.

If Drew's concerns about health and safety and his legal liability are correct then I fear for Ilford's attempt to spread the use of sharing home darkrooms which was a thread here quite recently.

pentaxuser

I guess the home photographic darkroom is dead then.

It has become far and away too dangerous today to develop the same films and make the same prints that were able to be easily and safely made at home only a few short decades ago. Oh how things have changed.

But that's progress for you...



Ken

For regular black & white work I use good continuous ventilation and nitrile rubber gloves. Ventilation is turned up if I open something concentrated with a low pH...

Tom

DREW WILEY said:

One of my close friends died at a relatively young age because he was an EPA inspector tracing these things - hard to say exactly which combination of chemicals or pesticides or whatever got to him, but they sure did.

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How do you know that? What did he die from? What did the doctor's and coroner's reports say?

A friend of mine who cleaned the drain intakes of one of the biotech labs nearby had a stroke at 40, even though he'd ordinarily be considered low risk. And that was due to stuff that wasn't even EPA or hazmat regulated.

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again...correlation is not causation, and you are stating causation without providing nearly enough information to arrive at that conclusion. Caution is always good, but groundless fear is not helpful. Its more likely to cause complete avoidance when basic safety is all that's needed.

Wayne said:

How do you know that? What did he die from? What did the doctor's and coroner's reports say?




again...correlation is not causation, and you are stating causation without providing nearly enough information to arrive at that conclusion. Caution is always good, but groundless fear is not helpful. Its more likely to cause complete avoidance when basic safety is all that's needed.

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Agreed. This guy died of a stroke, which is a complete blockage of blood to the brain. Chemical exposures do NOT cause this type of damage. Certainly not after a single event such as unblocking a clogged drain.