The Federal Hazardous Substances Act requires that the label carry "the common or usual name or the chemical name ( if the be no common or usual name) of the hazardous substance or of each component which contributes substantially to its hazards" (e.g. cancers). Many proven carcinogens and toxic chemicals are sold as art supplies with no warning labels; for example: asbestos, lead and zinc chromate, arsenic and uranium oxide, benzedine dyes, lead and lead compounds, cadmium and barium compounds, solvents, and silica (in clays and stones). Bulk packages, especially dyes, may have appropriate labels, however, labels on small packages may be non-existent or inadequate. A label that reads DANGER indicates a product that is acutely toxic. A label that reads WARNING, CAUTION, or HEALTH LABELS indicate a chronic hazard.
Synergistic effects are the possible effects from a combination of chemicals used simultaneously (e.g. the combination of alcohol and barbiturates in even small amounts can be deadly). Examples of this effect include: 1) the combination of alcohol usage and many solvents; 2) smokers have a ten times greater chance of lung cancer than non-smokers, add asbestos to smoking tobacco and the risk of lung cancer increased to ninety-two time greater than those who do neither.
As environmentally conscious individuals we can create art in relative safety. Humans are part of nature. What can affect us can affect other organisms, primarily by entering our environment through improper use and improper disposal of hazards, contaminating our groundwater and contributing to toxic pollution.
High risk groups are pregnant and nursing women, children, persons with chronic heart, kidney, or lung disease, persons with asthma or allergies, the elderly, and animals. The effects of hazards apply to healthy adult humans, not to high risk individuals. In addition, many people have high individual susceptibility to chemicals for heredity reasons or physical or emotional stress. CHILDREN: especially the very young, are at exceptionally high risk because of incompletely developed body defenses, small and less developed lung passages that are very susceptible to inflammation and spasm, rapidly growing tissues are easily damaged by poisons or lack of oxygen or nutrients, low body weight, faster metabolism, and they absorb more materials through the intestines. A FETUS is at especially high risk. The exposure by pregnant women to even small amounts of many materials can damage a fetus.
Risk is also determined to a large extent by the material the artist uses, the way the artist works with the material, the amount of the hazard he/she is exposed to, and the duration and frequency of exposure. The body can detoxify and eliminate many materials if it has sufficient rest between exposures in which to recover.
Most artists have home studios, often exposing themselves as well as other family members twenty-four hours a day, instead of just while working.
Four ways toxic substances can contact and enter the body are absorption through skin contact, inhalation, aspiration (breathing solid particles such as airbrush paints), and ingestion.
Skin contact: Punctures from sharp edges and abrasive substances, fungal and other infections, burns, and chemicals (e.g. acids, solvents, and bleaches) can attack and destroy protective barriers of skin. In addition to skin damage, this enables toxic chemicals to enter the body. Many solvents can penetrate the skin directly.
Inhalation: The respiratory system is the most common way that hazards enter our bodies. Solvent vapors, aerosol sprays, gases, dusts, and metal fumes can damage the respiratory system or be absorbed from the lungs into the bloodstream and affect other parts of the body. Respiratory defenses are not particularly effective against solvent vapors, irritation gases, and other non-dust chemicals. Smoking while working is particularly hazardous.
Aspiration: The breathing in of solids such as airbrush paint particles or pigment dusts. Accidents while working, such as a pneumatic paint tool getting out of control, may result in aspiration.
Ingestion: Usually associated with poisoning. Deliberate swallowing of hazards is most common in children, adults are usually poisoned by less direct means: pointing the paintbrush (licking or lipping the brush to a point), eating and drinking while working allowing vapors and dusts to dissolve in drinks or collect on food, paint on hands that is carried to the mouth, and the swallowing of mucus containing dust ejected from the lungs by cilia action then entering the stomach.
Effects on the Body
Local or General: Local effects cause damage or irritation at the immediate contact site (e.g. acid burns the skin). General effects affect parts of the body remote from the contact area (e.g. most solvents cause depression to the central nervous system, although initial contact is usually through the lungs). Additionally, many chemicals can damage more than one organ of the body at the same time (e.g. chlorinated hydrocarbons - solvents - affect both the central nervous system and the liver.
Acute vs. Chronic: Acute illness or injury may result from a single exposure to hazards via any method of exposure. The effects are usually immediate. Chronic illness may result from prolonged and repeated exposure to toxins, often in small amounts. Effects are more insidious and may take years to appear; usually twenty to thirty years but sometimes only month. Duration and level of exposure are risk factors. The hazard may not be apparent because of the long period of time between exposure and the resulting disease.