I always get a kick out of seeing a sign on the Santa Monica Mall in a Holistic Pharmacy [Half-Asstic?] "Our Vitamins and Minerals Contain Absolutely No Chemicals".
More than once when I questioned the pharmacist about how "he could encapsilate a vacuum in a non-chemical container and sell it as a product" he threw me out telling me that I did not understand medicine or chemistry. :eek:
I had a chemistry set when I was a kid and I loved it. I bet you'd be hard pressed to find one these days.
Yeah and I get an overtone of wet cigar butt.Stinks like an urn of badly burnt coffee.
Stinks like an urn of badly burnt coffee.
how about citric acid for a stop bath?My wife will be teaching a B&W component in a high school art class this year and I was wondering if there is a good workflow for darkrooms that don't have an active ventilation system. As you know, with schools safety trumps all else. In another thread XTOL was mentioned as a low toxicity film developer. Water works for stop bath. But what about fixers, other stop baths and paper developers?
INSURANCE...!!If the teacher handles all the mixing of stock solutions there should be few problems with safety.
The only stock solution that needs to be mixed to working dilution should be the developer. In most cases, it's 1:1 developer plus water. A high school student should be able to do that safely. If he can't he doesn't belong in photography. Everything else, stop bath, fixer and hypo clearing agent is usually mixed to working dilution from the start. All the student needs to do is pour out the right amount.
A high school student should understand the rules:
• Follow directions and measure accurately.
• Don't mix things that aren't supposed to be mixed.
• Don't spill.
• If you have an accident, wipe it up.
• No food or drinks in the lab.
• Wash your hands with soap and hot water before you leave the lab.
• Report any accidents or problems to the teacher AT ONCE.
If you feel the need to smooth things over with the administration, tell them that you require all students in the lab to wear chemical resistant, nitrile rubber gloves and safety goggles.
Write up a list of safety rules, print them up in large text and post them on the wall of the lab. On the first day of lab, give the students a safety lecture. Tell them that you will give one warning and, if they don't obey, they are out. This kind of "laying down the law" is often what many school administrators want to hear. If you take a proactive approach they will feel better.
XTOL is probably a good developer to use. You can tell the admins. that it is "basically made from vitamin-C." You can tell them that stop bath is "basically the same as vinegar." In either case, you're not lying. Ascorbic acid IS vitamin-C and acetic acid IS the main component of vinegar. You are just explaining things in terms that people can understand more easily.
Provided your students operate in a safe manner, the only thing that could cause you trouble is one of the students having an allergic reaction. This is pretty rare. Millions of people have used photographic chemistry, over the years, and allergic reactions are practically unheard of. In those rare cases where it does happen, wearing gloves, goggles and aprons is usually enough to solve the problem.
As others have said, the dangers of photographic chemistry are quite overblown. Those stories that people tell are usually second and third hand accounts of things that either didn't really happen or that happened years and years ago.
Modern photographic chemistry is quite safe, compared to the way things were years ago. If people behave responsibly I don't think there is any real danger.
If you are concerned with odor then here are some tips:
1. Any developer for film or paper will do. B&W developers are pretty much odorless.
2. If you can stand vinegar, then a stop bath is ok, but if not use citric acid or running water (but the latter only if you must and it is not best for prints).
3. Use a neutral fix. They have no odor.
PE
if you arelooking for eco-friendly, You picked the wrong hobby.My wife will be teaching a B&W component in a high school art class this year and I was wondering if there is a good workflow for darkrooms that don't have an active ventilation system. As you know, with schools safety trumps all else. In another thread XTOL was mentioned as a low toxicity film developer. Water works for stop bath. But what about fixers, other stop baths and paper developers?
It is a sad comment on our "Modern Day Society".
Awhile back a mother was arrested and her children taken into 'protective' custody for allowing her children to walk to school. The idiocy of the action was even greater because she was following behind them in her car.
Old proverb: There are two infinities - Man's stupidity and God's patience. I'm afraid making laws to reduce the former is futile. I'm with the Darwin Awards: The sooner fools do themselves in the better; we should not stand in their way.
its too bad other people who aren't involved end up getting killed because of someone else's stupidity.
Wow. Just wow. Responding to a 10 year old post.if you arelooking for eco-friendly, You picked the wrong hobby.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?