I'm feeling a bit ill. Does this happen with photochemicals

[snusmumriken]

I'm confused.
Are people developing film in a closed darkroom when the film is in a light tight developing tank?
Why not open the door once the film is in the tank?

Because that would lay you open to family disturbances?

 

[Helge]

The health risk, general toxicity and environmental concerns over developing agents and photo chemistry is, outside a very few exceptions, vastly, vastly overblown and misunderstood.

It’s in the spirit of the general air of mystery surrounding other types of “folk science”.

Chemistry fits on the same mental box of most people as magnets, laser and electricity.

“How does X work?” and the answer is usually one of the above, “‘magnets” for example, and people have been conditioned to be satisfied with that.
And at the same time they are slightly irritated, mystified and suspicious.

Don’t eat it or stay in concentrated fumes of it for long periods. In the same way you wouldn’t eat soap or stay in an unventilated room with gasoline or chlorine fumes for too long.

It’s fine to use in the kitchen. As long as you wipe the counter lightly after. In the same way you’d wipe it after cooking or mixing detergents or paint.

 

[pentaxuser]

A strange thread in that the OP joined us last Saturday in the afternoon but hasn't been seen present since 44 minutes after he joined

pentaxuser

 

[Vaughn]

If one does something stupid, one can get into trouble. As for stupid...when I was first making platinum prints, I would coat for 8 or so 8x10s, blow-drying each one...and way over-dry. Eventually (a few years), after each session I would start to get a sore throat and develop a deep cough...nastier each time. I would think I was getting sick, but after a couple days I was fine. I eventually gave myself asthma.

Platinum dust, it turns out, is very dangerous and causes asthma...a well known problem with workers in the platinum industry. Not a usual problem for printers as people usually don't over-dry and kick platinum dust off the paper. I air-dry now with zero health problems and better prints.

But I have also mixed 1000s of gallons of D-76, Dektol and fixer from powder in rooms with little ventilation. Combine that with fighting forest fires, pounding on trails with pick-axes, etc and raising dust, sitting/cooking around campfires, and such, I am amazed my lungs still work.