Caveat emptor

[sholio]

This month's Paletteful Pack was a set of alcohol-based inks, and I know at least one other person in my DW circle got these, so as a warning, I found out when I tried them that they are way more toxic than even the (vague) warnings on the bottle about keeping them out of reach of children suggest.

They have a very strong smell, but my work area is fairly open (it's the loft part of a house with a large open upstairs) so I didn't even really think about needing extra ventilation. Last night I opened them up and played with them for about 15-20 minutes while watching TV, until I started to feel suuuuuper weird. It was clearly a neurotoxic chemical reaction: sweating, shaking, dizzy, headachy, and it started to clear up within minutes of getting out of the area. I've never reacted to a solvent like that before, though I've also never used that kind of ink before, but I have no problem with strong-smelling, solvent-based markers and the like.

So basically, if you use these, VENTILATE, and take frequent breaks. I played with them some more today on the deck, and that was all right; I just tried not to take deep breaths with my face close to them, and stepped away for a break every few minutes. And I feel fine. I mean, a little bit of toxic risk goes along with most art supplies. But I think I'm going to toss the remainder (I used up all the paper that came with them anyway) because they're not really enough fun to make up for all the extra precautions I felt it necessary to take. It's possible that I'm unusually sensitive to it, but it might not be a bad idea to make sure to ventilate thoroughly (outside is best, if you have an outside where you can do art) or wear a respirator mask if you're going to be using them in a small space indoors for more than a few minutes. Finding somewhere away from living areas to let them dry is also a good idea, because I also noticed that they outgas very badly; I'm drying them on the deck for the initial part of it and then moving them to the garage. Basically treat them like some sort of shop project and it'll be fine. But they aren't really suitable for doing art indoors in a combined art/living workspace! At least that was my experience.

Comments

[yhlee]

...holy shit, I didn't even think of that; the extent of my knowledge of toxicity considerations is (a) avoiding cadmium-based watercolors and (b) giving up on BJD faceups because the sealant you use is toxic as shit and HAS to be used with a rated respirator. I thought that my symptoms over the past couple of days were related to food poisoning but now I wonder, because the timing, plus the fact that they returned even after the food should have been out of my system...yikes. Thanks for the warning.

I especially don't want my cat getting into this stuff!!!

[sholio]

I know right???!! I thought of you in particular, and if you're having weird symptoms, especially along the lines of headaches/dizziness/nausea/cold sweats, it could very easily be related to these, because that's what happened to me. In my case, I was feeling fine beforehand and it hit me hard enough that it was very clearly connected and then I started feeling better once I got away from it and was back to normal in another 15-20 minutes or so, but I also moved the paintings out to the garage to dry and aired out the house (and didn't think until today that I should probably make a post about it so other people know!).

I'm just being careful now, and I think once the art is completely dry it's probably fine, but if it hit me that hard and fast, I think they need WAY more warnings on the bottles -- I think it doesn't even say anything about ventilation, it just says that it's toxic and children shouldn't use it. NO SHIT!! I mean, volatile solvents in art markers are a thing, and I've gotten mild headaches from using them, as well as (as you said) toxic materials in paint pigments that can be bad for you over time, but I've never experienced anything like this before.

[yhlee]

Yes, I was confused by the headachiness in particular because that usually isn’t a food poisoning symptom for me. I think I may pitch these. The colors are gorgeous but it’s not worth it. And I didn’t use them very long, either, but I splashed some on my skin...

Also, Iused them again today and feel a bit nauseated, ugh. Yeah, definitely pitching these. If I want glorious colors, I’ll stick to my watercolors, which don’t make me sick!!

[sholio]

Yeah, they're so messy (and frankly, not well designed, with the pop-off instead of screw-off lids) that it's impossible to use them without getting it on you! As careful as I tried to be outside, I did get it on my hands several times, and between that and being around it even in the open air, I have a bit of a headache now -- nothing like yesterday, but noticeable. UGH. The colors are pretty, but ... yeah, not worth it.

[yhlee]

This may actually inspire me to hatepaint in watercolors to make up for the experience, haha.

[sholio]

Thank you for not being horrifically toxic, little watercolors. *pats them* At least most of you.

[yhlee]

Weren’t some of the historical pigments toxic? I wish I knew more about this...

[jenett]

A bunch of them were, yeah.

Let me plug my favourite book about colour history, for being really readable and giving lots of places to jump off, but Victoria Finlay's "Color: A natural history of the palette"

I don't know about watercolour pigments off the top of my head, but arsenic green was a big thing for the Victorians (and was basically all over wallpaper for a while), a bunch of the older whites have lead, etc. etc.

[sholio]

Ooh, that book sounds interesting; I'll have to look for it! :D

[sholio]

Yeah, when I took beginning painting they specifically warned us not to get the cadmiums or the phthalos on or under our fingernails because they are absorbed rapidly through the nail beds. Oh, and the cobalts aren't great either, and I think white pigment used to be made out of lead for a long time, though it isn't anymore.

As far as I know, though, with paint pigments it's cumulative exposure that's an issue, rather than acute poisoning. I guess painting your whole body cadmium yellow would be a bad idea, but in general I don't worry about getting watercolor or acrylic on my hands as long as I give them a good scrubbing afterwards.

[recessional]

Yeah all heavy-metal poisonings are accumulation issues: same reason why it's fine to get an X-ray or six, but X-ray techs and so on have to step out of the space.

[flamebyrd]

Oh wow, I had no idea about the phthalo pigments (google says potential PCB contamination?), I'll definitely start being more careful with those just in case.

When I started buying watercolours I definitely wasn't anticipating having to make decisions like "How do I feel about cadmium? What about cobalt?"

[sholio]

Now that I'm googling it, it doesn't appear to be nearly as toxic as I had been given to understand in 1995.

But yeah, I'm pretty sure paint pigments (those that haven't been discontinued, anyway, like the arsenic compounds) aren't toxic to an extent that getting a little on your hands every now and then will hurt you; you just wouldn't want to moisturize with the stuff. If you were making your own paints, and getting a lot of it on your hands/inhaling the dust, it might be a problem, but probably not otherwise.

[yhlee]

Yeah, I had no idea there were issues with the phthalos either! Heh.

[yhlee]

Okay, I emailed them asking them to warn people about ventilation &c. I don’t know if it will help but it was worth a try.

[sholio]

Thank you! That's a good idea; I didn't even think of doing that, either.

[yhlee]

I anonymously cited your experience too (“a friend and I”)—hope that’s okay.

And thank you again for the warning. I am too used to nontoxic Crayola products, I guess!

[sholio]

Oh yeah, that's fine, cite away!

And yeah - I mean, I'm also completely shocked by this because I've been using all kinds of art supplies for years and I've never had anything like this happen before! And that includes things like xylene markers with dire warnings about ventilation on the package. The worst that's EVER happened is mild headaches if I didn't get up and walk around to get some fresh air occasionally. There's no way this level of mild exposure should be causing symptoms like this for either of us.

[lunabee34]

OMG, I am so glad you figured out what was going on.

[yhlee]

BTW, bullet dodged because I had thought that Ara would enjoy experimenting with these too, but she was having fun doing her own thing so I left her alone. Imagine if she'd gotten sick as well...

[sovay]

It was clearly a neurotoxic chemical reaction: sweating, shaking, dizzy, headachy, and it started to clear up within minutes of getting out of the area.

Yikes.

[recessional]

YIKE. THAT NEEDED A LOT MORE WARNINGS ON IT, OMG.

[flamebyrd]

Weird to come back to my computer with a mild headache from cleaning something with isopropyl alcohol and read this.

It definitely sounds like they should have at the very least warned to use only in a well ventilated area, yikes. I'm glad you realised relatively quickly!

[winter_elf]

Huh. Did you have to be over 18 to get these boxes? Just asking because I recently bought Brasso at the hardware store and got carded for it AND warned to only use in highly ventilated area.

[leesa_perrie]

Oh boy, that's not good! Glad you're okay *hugs*