In my former life, I was a props artisan for a large theatre in DC. As part of my training (both on the job and while in school) I learned (and have forgotten) a lot about safety. So when I see or hear about people melting records in the same oven they cook in, the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Now, I know there’s a school of thought out there that says “People have been doing it for years and they’re fine”. Which might be true. However there are also a lot of artists out there with severe and chronic health issues directly related to the materials they have worked with. If you’re a painter or sculptor or even scrap-booker, do you know about the materials you’re working with?

Do you know how you can find out?

The first thing I want to teach you about are Material Safety Data Sheets. If you’re working for a company (I don’t know the rules about self-employed artists but I hope this inspires you to find out) it is required by OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) that you have the MSDS reports on the paints, chemicals, adhesives, plastics, solvents, etc you use.

These sheets (not the most fun reading, I know) are important if there are spills, reactions, or on the larger, catastrophic scale — if your warehouse is on fire, so the fire company will want to know what chemicals they’re encountering. Usually you receive them if you’re ordering the chemical from the company or distributor. If you haven’t, call them and ask for it.

What if you’re using something you purchase from a craft store? This is where the Internet will be your best go-to source. Let’s pick on polymer clay as an example. First, let me say, anytime you’re heating plastic, you’re releasing gases. The toxicity of these gases is up for debate, although some people think that the lower temp baking clays aren’t toxic. I can’t say if they are or they aren’t, but if you google FIMO +MSDS you’ll find this, where it states “FIMO accidentally overheated can release Hydrochloric acid”. It’s something to think about if you go from baking your cool polymer clay characters to cupcakes in the same oven.

When you’re googling for information (including the information I’m spewing here) you should use your smarts. For example: Dick Blick is a distributor, so they would be required by OSHA to know what kinds of chemicals they have in stock. I would also trust the MSDS sheets from the producing company themselves. Which could seem a little hinkey…I know…”why couldn’t they just lie about burn temps”? And the answer is yes, I suppose they could and there’s no way you could really know. However OSHA has strict guidelines and requires manufacturers to update their sheets every 3-5 years.

Now, once you have the sheet, how do you decipher it? What is a flashpoint? How do PPMs (parts per million) affect me? This website from the American Lung Association is one of the best tools I’ve found.

I’m sure your eyes are glazing over right now so I’ll wrap this up and come back to this another time, but I really recommend looking into the health implications of the materials you’re using. I’m not here to scare you, but you can’t spell scare without “care”. Just remember that, ok?

Happy and safe crafting!
xoxo
beth b.

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