Arts and Crafts Materials

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The Issue

If you are an artist or craftsperson, you may be working with materials that have the potential to harm your health. It is important to protect yourself by taking proper precautions.

Background

Some artists and craftspeople might assume that all arts materials are safe to work with, based on the simple fact that the materials are readily available. However, some of these materials can pose a hazard if the safety instructions set out on the product label are not followed.

While it's impossible to list all of the potential hazards involved in every arts and crafts material or process, the following examples highlight some things that could be harmful:

If you draw or paint, you might inhale dust from dry pigments, or fumes from the chemical solvents used to clean brushes. Many products are also flammable.

Some photo-processing solutions used in developers, fixers, stop baths and intensifiers can irritate skin, be poisonous if ingested and may produce dangerous fumes.

In jewellery-making and enamelling, you could inhale dusts or fumes during soldering, pickling, casting or finishing.

In woodworking, you could seriously damage your lungs by inhaling wood dust over and over again. Some of the solvents and adhesives used in stripping, gluing and finishing can a