ARTIST’S HEALTH

• One thing we feel we should address is the confusion about odiferous v. odorless oil medium and solvents.

The experts say that generally, given the same concentration of each, the odorless mediums and solvents are less toxic. However, if one is not habitually filtering or venting their studio air, the odorless chemicals can become more of a problem. For example, if you are using a smelly one and the concentration of it starts to build in your studio, you will notice it and walk out or purge the air. With an odorless medium or solvent you could build up a very high concentration, which might be quite harmful, without realizing it.

Without using a good activated carbon filter or venting system an odiferous medium or solvent may be safer: at least you know when the concentration builds in your studio air. If, on the other hand, you continuously clean the mediums and solvents from your studio air by using Artist’s Air or a strong venting system, the amount of either material would be very low. Therefore, the less-toxic ones would be preferable.

Some websites to check out:

Health & Safety in the Arts—A Searchable Database of Health & Safety Information for Artists:
http://www.ci.tucson.az.us/arthazards/paint3.html

Health Hazards in the Arts: Information (on publications) for Artists, Craftspeople, and Photographers:
http://wally.rit.edu/pubs/guides/healthhaz.html

Princeton University's Art Safety Training Guide:
http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ehs/artsafety/index.htm

Guide to Using Art & Craft Materials Safely
http://www.thegreenguide.org/article/arts/supplies

Arts, Crafts & Theater Safety
http://www.artscraftstheatersafety.org/

• Monona Rossol, Chemist, Artist, and Industrial hygienist has authored or co-authored the following books:

The Artist's Complete Health and Safety Guide, Allworth Press, (1990; 2nd Ed., 1994; 3rd Ed., 2001). Winner of 1996 Choice Outstanding Academic Book Award from the Association of College and Research Libraries. It provides health, safety, and regulatory information for US/Canadian artists. Included are charts of hundreds of pigments, metals, minerals, solvents, plastics, paints, and other materials used in the arts with recommendations about choosing the safest products and the ventilation and other precautions needed to work safely with these materials.

Keeping Clay Work Safe & Legal (1993, 2nd Ed., 1996) published by the National Council on Education for the Ceramic arts. It provides coverage of all the major health & safety hazards and precautions for ceramics and can function as an OSHA training text for ceramics workers and teachers.

Danger: Artist at Work! Thorpe Publishing, Monona Rossol was senior author with Ben Bartlett coauthor (1991, 2nd Ed., 1996) published in Australia for Australian art and theater workers.

Overexposure: Health Hazards in Photography, Allworth Press, co- authored with Susan Shaw, (1991). An in depth treatment of the hazards of photographic chemicals. (Limited availability)