Toxic Shock
Coal Elevator
Sketchbook, plain old pencil
Now that we know a little more about the longevity of our artist’s pigments, let’s discuss the longevity of the artist. Pigment poisoning can occur through inhalation or ingestion. Take a look at this consolidated overview of art materials and their hazards:
Table of Artist’s Materials & Hazards
In the U.S., lead based paints which are banned for household use, are still available in professional artist’s materials. Products labeled Lead, Flake, or Cremnitz White contain lead. Underpainting white may or may not, so if using a lead based product is a concern to you, check your product’s documentation.
Although prohibited for consumer use, lead has become increasingly prevalent in retail goods from imported products, most notably in children’s items. Children’s art supplies should be certified AP or CP Non-toxic, and this information should be clearly visible on the label.
Other sources of pigment poisoning include anything made with the cadmiums; reds, yellows, oranges, and cadmium green, if you can find it. Chrome Yellow (PY34) is made from lead chromate, and Aureolin (PY40) contains cobalt. The blue cobalts include (PB28) and (PB35, PB36), also known as Cerulean. Manganese blue (PB33), is very similar in color to cerulean, and the popular Phthalo blue (copper phthalocyanine, PB15, PB16) may contain trace elements of a known carcinogen.
What came as a shock, is that I’ve seen some of these pigments listed as suitable for use in pastels, and it’s probably due to their light fast qualities. So the next time someone asks me What’s your poison? I can say something other than coffee, black.
Recall Notices from SafeKids.org
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Oh wow.
Don’t lick your pastels.
Lovely pencil drawing!
Thanks Meg! With my “studio” temporarily out of commission, I’ve had lots of time to learn all kinds of scary things about my supplies, but the chemicals I used in former manufacturing jobs were a lot worse than what’s in the studio. No matter what I do, living is hazardous to my health!
Nice one Lisa - an important topic - and I wondered exactly the same thing re. use in pastels.
I’ll be linking to this post and the last one next Sunday.
Thank you, Katherine! Unfortunately, I made the same assumption about pigment safety as I did about artist grade materials being light fast. I’m now being a lot more careful about what I buy.