If you paint, sand, stuff, cut, shred, glue, spray anything in the creation of your art, you should know what’s going into your lungs.  I’m going to talk and link you to some info on ventilation and respirators.

First, Ventilation:

Ventilation has three purposes: 1) Control temperature 2) it prevents fire and explosions (when gases build up) 3) remove toxins from air.  If you think you’re safe using an air-conditioner or even outside, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re safe. Air-conditioners recycle air so you will be breathing the same stuff and you can’t control the direction of the wind to prevent it from blowing at you. If you’re using small amounts of solvents, you’re probably okay to do this outside.

Now, for types of ventilation, there is general or dilution and exhaust. One helps keep gases from building up which can ignite themselves and cause an explosion and exhaust is about getting the air away from you, preventing prolonged exposure to toxins.

Now a little bit about respirators:

If you’re using paints that are solvent-clean up you should know what you’re inhaling. And most likely be using a respirator. Many artists say “well, I can’t smell anything, I’m okay”. No. If you can smell something, you’re too late.

Let’s take a look at respirators:

In googling stuff, I found this page which eloquently states some respirator choices far better than I could so read this then come back here.

Ok, back? Good. The main thing you should recognize first when you’re on the hunt for your respirator, is what you’re trying to stave off. Organic fumes? Particilants? Both?

Some materials (like wool or fake fur or the stuffing fiber Kapok) you’re probably ok to just use a dust mask to keep the bigger fibers out of your lungs. But if you’re baking polymer clay, varnishing wood, or spray painting your skate decks, throw a respirator on.

And no, holding your breath won’t protect you.

Let’s say you cast a lot of resin jewelry pieces, what do you need? You should first get a respirator with changeable cartridge pads. But you can also look into a spray booth.

Spray booths come in many sizes- including those for the hobbyist and crafter. Desk-top booths like this one here from Dick Blick might be a good option for those casting small projects. Or this one. Even so, when you’re using a resin (or any 2-part casting medium) please always make sure to read the label and know what you’re using. I would still wear a respirator while using one of these booths.

Also, if possible, I would vent it to the highest point you can. If you’re working in your basement and you vent to the immediate outside, you might run the risk of harming animals or other people who live near you. At least if you’re venting high, it has a greater chance to dissipate before it hits the ground.

I just got a great book called Artists Beware by Michael McCann. I highly recommend it.

These posts aren’t meant to be authoritative, but more hoping it will open your eyes to get you to know what materials you’re using and how you’re using them; hoping that these will urge you to research more about your situation.

This will likely change with the impending CPSIA rules that have every independent toymaker (myself included) quaking in their converse.
I could go into hazardous materials, but it would be easier to send you here: http://www.cpsc.gov/BUSINFO/fhsa.html

One of the main things to stress is that “natural” isn’t always the safest bet. Formaldehyde is natural (albeit toxic) and you find that in house paint to prevent chipping. You’ll also create formaldehyde when you melt crayons. And your carpet is probably off-gassing formaldehyde right now too.

So how do you know what non-toxic really means? At Greener Choices, in their Eco-labels center, you can find out what the labels on your favorite products really mean.

If you have a crafter safety or health issue that you would like to see addressed, email us. I’m not an expert, I’m just someone who has seen other artists and crafts people hurt themselves because they didn’t know some basic stuff.

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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