Spotone/ Spot-All inks toxic?

Trond said:

Hi everyone,

A friend suggested that retouching inks might be toxic. I've always had the impression that Spotone/Spot-All inks are-non toxic, and have routinely been licking the brush to dilute the ink (for many years). I managed to find a MSDS for Spot-All sepia tone, and it doesn't list any toxic ingredients.

Do any of know if these inks are toxic or not? I should possibly change my habits anyway..

Thanks,
Trond

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I think, we can safely assume that they are not.Spotone has been field tested for decades and if it were toxic hundreds of photographers would be either sick or dead.Since this is not the case,I doubt that there is any danger other than getting a dark tongue.

The question is valid as it is always good to be careful. A couple of days ago a woman in San Francisco died a terrible death after drinking an herbal tea. One of the ingredients were leaves from the aconite plant (commonly called monkshood or wolfsbane). The leaves are used in Chinese folk medicine. This plant is so toxic that even casual contact with the leaves or flowers has been known to cause death. A few years ago a young gardener in England died after ripping out a bed of the plants. This caused quite a scandal as the rich home owner did not warn him to wear gloves. There are people in Europe that actually grow this plant as an ornamental in their gardens for its lovely blue flowers. In the past the plant has been used medicinally. However the therapeutic window is very small. In addition the amount of the toxin varies greatly from plant to plant and also season to season making its use even more dangerous.

However in the case of Spotone I believe there is no danger.