From: Shannon Stoney (sstoney@pdq.net)
Date: 02/23/03-12:34:48 PM Z
Bob wrote:
> I am now into my third year of treatment for metals and phenols in my
>liver and kidneys because, "When I wazh a boy" we weren't warned about the
>slow build up of so many of the chemicals that we use. Of course, now we
>used latex or vinyl gloves and good ventilation but we should never shrug
>off chemicals because they won't kill us quickly...the most insidious are
>those that build up in the system with time. Prevention is worth more than
>a pound of valor...to purposefully mix my metaphors.
I too have been made very sick in the past in poorly ventilated
darkrooms. This was in school darkrooms, where the people running
the places should have known better. Some of these places are still
not fixed after years of people complaining about the poor
ventilation. So, we cannot assume that everybody knows or cares
about safety. I feel safe now only when working in my own darkroom
where I can control the ventilation and everything else related to
safety. I informed myself by getting the book Overexposure, which
explains in detail the hazards of every photographic chemical
imaginable. Being aware of the hazards of these chemicals doesn't
mean I don't use them. I just use them with the understanding of what
they really are. We use hazardous things all the time, advisedly.
The gas we cook with can explode or suffocate us, but because we
understand it, we can control its danger, as we do with electricity
and fire and many other things. We should understand and respect the
nature of the things we use.
I think it would be difficult to list in one weekly or monthly email
all the hazards of all the chemicals we use. Maybe it would be
better to recommend to newcomers that they buy a copy of the book
Overexposure so that they can refer to it when they need to. The
introduction to the book by John Pfahl is a very convincing essay
about what can happen, and did happen to him, when photographers
ignore the hazards of the chemicals they use.
--shannon
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