Safer Substitutes in Art (for schools) (18K) SAFER SUBSTITUTES IN ART By Angela Babin, M.S. Waste Reduction Artists and art students work with many materials to create art. Certain art materials can be hazardous both to the students and to the environment. The best way of eliminating waste art materials is through source reduction, the elimination of hazardous or non-hazardous wastes before it is created. Reuse and recycling are also good methods of reducing waste. Several ways that art students and teachers can address this issue are:  Substitute art materials that are less toxic to the environment - and also less toxic to the students;  Completely use up art materials. Purchase in container sizes that do not leave lots of residue.  Reuse or recycle art materials whenever possible.  Treat hazardous waste art materials by neutralization (see photography section) or other methods when possible to reduce the toxicity of the waste stream. Understand that substitutions may involve using alternative art materials and techniques. It may take a little time getting used to these alterations. Also, remember that the safety of all recycled materials should be determined before use. This poster contains general recommendations and very specific ones for safeer substitutes in art. Elementary School Students Some art materials are dangerous for young children to use. Basically, young children should only use art materials that are non-toxic. This poster recommends that young children use art materials that do not have any warning labels and carry the statement "Conforms to ASTM D-4236" or similar wording. Products that have been approved by a toxicologist and carry the Certified Product (CP) or Approved Product (AP) seal of the Arts and Crafts Materials Institute are generally approved for young children. This poster shows safe art materials that can be SUBSTITUTED for the more hazardous ones in elementary school classes. Young children should not use any processes discussed under secondary schools unless also approved for elementary school students, at the top of each arts category. Secondary School Students Art materials that are used in the junior and senior high school levels are often more toxic. This poster shows safe and less toxic art materials that can be used to replace more hazardous materials. Please remember that sometimes the substitute materials can still be hazardous - just less so! Make sure that the label carries the statement "Conforms to ASTM D-4236" or similar wording, indicating that the warning label conforms to the requirements of the Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act of 1988. Since many art materials recommended here still might be hazardous, although to a lesser degree, secondary school students and teachers may still need to take health and safety precautions while using art products. These precautions may include types of ventilation, gloves, respirators (face masks), and other safety precautions. Remember to take the right safety precautions! (See references.) CERAMICS Elementary School Students Clays * Use only wet, pre-mixed clays. White clays * Use only talc-free clays. Glazes * Paint finished pieces with acrylics or tempera instead of glazing. * Use CP/AP lead-free liquid glazes. Secondary School Children Through Adult Clays * Use only talc-free, pre-mixed clays. Glazes * Use only lead-free glazes. * Use pre-mixed liquid glazes, not powders. Colorants * Use glazes that do not contain carcinogenic nickel, cadmium, uranium, chromates or talc. Waste clay * Cut into small pieces and place in barrel of water for recycling. Waste glazes * Combine residual glazes and reuse. PAINTING AND DRAWING Elementary School Students Paints * Use CP/AP water colors, tempera, and acrylic paints, not adult paints. Scented markers * Do not use because they teach children to smell and eat art materials. Permanent markers * Use CP/AP water-based markers. Pastels, chalks * Use CP/AP oil sticks, crayons, chalks, and colored pencils. Spray fixatives * Use CP/AP clear acrylic emulsion to fix drawings Rubber cement * Use glue sticks or double-sided tape. Secondary School Students Painting Pigments * Use pigments that do not contain lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, chromates. Pigments * Use pre-mixed paints. Oil paints * Use water-based paints. * Replace turpentine washes with acrylic underpainting. Spray paints * Brush or spatter paints. Solvent cleaning * Use baby, vegetable, or mineral oil instead of solvents to clean hands and brushes. Turpentine * Use turpenoid, odorless paint thinner, or odorless mineral spirits. Waste solvents * Reuse solvents by allowing to settle, and then filtering or decanting. Drawing Pastels * Use oil pastels instead of dry pastels. Drawing inks * Use water-based inks not solvent-based inks. Permanent markers * Use CP/AP water-based markers. * Use alcohol-based markers instead of markers based on toluene or methyl isobutyl ketone. COMMERCIAL ART Elementary School Students Scented markers * Do not use because they teach children to smell and eat art materials. Permanent markers * Use CP/AP water-based markers. Rubber cement * Use glue sticks or double-sided tape. Glues * Use CP/AP glues for collage. Secondary School Students Painting/Drawing * Use water-based paints and inks instead materials of solvent-based ones. Airbrushing * Use a tooth brush to spatter paint. Don't airbrush solvent-based dyes or inks. Permanent markers * Use water or alcohol-based markers instead of markers based on toluene or methyl isobutyl ketone. Rubber cement * Use waxers or double-sided tape instead of rubber cement or spray adhesives. * Use kneaded eraser to remove wax from mechanicals. * Use heptane-based adhesives instead of hexane-based types. PHOTOGRAPHY Elementary School Students Photochemicals * Use polaroid cameras, without transfer manipulation. Photochemicals * Send film out to be developed. * Do sungrams with blueprint paper and sunlight. * Do photocopier art. Secondary School Students Black and White Processing Developers * Use only Metol/hydroquinone developers or the less toxic phenidone/hydroquinone developers. * Use replenishment solutions to reuse chemicals. * Neutralize with stop bath or citric acid before disposal. Stop bath * Use water only, instead of acetic acid. Fixers * Use low acid fixers instead of high sulfur dioxide rapid fixers. * Recover silver from fixer if using large amounts. Reducers * Use only Farmer's reducer (potassium ferricyanide). Intensifiers * Do not use intensifiers because of their high toxicity. Toners * Do not use toners because of their high toxicity. Hypo eliminators * Use water or hypo clearing agents for washing. Color Processing Color devlopers * Do not use phenylene diamine developers. Solvents * Use only low solvent color processes. Formaldehdye * Do not use formaldehyde stabilizers. Blue Printing Fixer * Use dilute hydrogen peroxide instead of dichromates for fixing. METAL WORKING Elementary School Students Jewelry * Bend metal wire instead of soldering. Stained glass * Use colored cellophane and black paper to imitate colored glass and lead came. Secondary School Students Jewelry Silver solder * Use cadmium-free silver solders. Fluxes * Use borax instead of fluoride-based fluxes. Pickling baths * Use sodium hydrogen sulfate (Sparex) instead of sulfuric acid. * Neutralize bath with baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) before pouring down sink with lots of water. Test with pH paper. Enameling Enamels * Use only lead-free enamels. Enamel colorants * Use enamels that do not contain nickel, cadmium, uranium, arsenic or chromates. Waste enamels * Combine and reuse. Metal Casting Lead * Do not cast lead or lead-containing metals. Sand blasting * Use glass beads or alumina instead of silica sand. Asbestos * Use asbestos-free insulation. Silica Investment * Use plaster and sand mixture. Stained glass Lead came * Use copper foil technique. Lead solders * Use lead and antimony-free solders. Fluxes * Use acid-free and rosin-free fluxes. Glass paints * Use colored glass or lead-free paints. Welding Metals * Weld metals like mild steel that are not galvanized, or do not contain lead, nickel, chromium, or cadmium. * Use only found metals of known composition. * Do not use metals coated with lead paint. Fluxes * Do not use fluoride fluxes. Degreasing * Degrease metals with detergents or odorless mineral spirits instead of chlorinated hydrocarbons. PRINTMAKING Elementary School Students Screen printing * Use CP/AP water-based inks. * Use cut paper stencils. Relief printing * Use linoleum cuts instead of woodcuts. * Use CP/AP water-based inks. Secondary School Students General Pigments * Use pigments that do not contain lead, cadmium, mercury, chromates or arsenic. * Use pre-mixed inks. Cleaning solvents * Use odorless mineral spirits instead of turpentine, kerosene or gasoline. Screen printing Inks * Use water-based inks instead of solvent-based inks. Stencils * Use cut paper, contact paper, etc. instead of lacquer stencils. Screen mounting * Use staples or tape instead of solvent-based glues. Photoemulsions * Use diazo photoemulsions or presensitized photo film. Intaglio Acids * Use ferric chloride (iron perchloride) instead of Dutch mordant. * Neutralize nitric acid baths with baking soda before pouring down sink. Test with pH paper. Cleaning solvents * Scrape inking slab and press with palette knife to reduce amount of ink, remove remaining ink with vegetable, baby or mineral oil, and wipe oil film with cotton ball and rubbing alcohol for cleanup. Photoetching * Use pre-sensitized plates or xerox transfer/screen process instead of techniques that use highly toxic solvents. Lithography Acids * Use premixed gum etches instead of using concentrated acids. Vinyl lacquers * Do not use because of high toxicity. Dichromates * Use fountain solutions based on water and gum arabic. * Use citric acid as counteretch. Hydrofluoric acid * Do not use because of extreme toxicity. Talc * Use asbestos-free talcs (e.g. baby powder). Phenol * Use mechanical cleaning of stones. Photolithography * Use positive/negative presensitized offset plates. WOODWORKING Elementary School Students Woods * Use only common soft woods. Glues * Use CP/AP glues. Paints * Use CP/AP water-based paints. Secondary School Students Preserved * Do not use woods treated with chromated wood copper arsenate (CCA), pentachlorophenol, or creosote. * Use ordinary woods. Particle board * Use ordinary woods to avoid and plywood formaldehyde. Tropical woods * Use non-allergenic & non-irritating woods. Leftover wood * Recycle into new projects. Glues * Use white glues, hide glues and other water-based glues instead of epoxy, formaldehyde or solvent-based glues. * Use small containers to minimize drying out of glue. Paints & Coatings * Use water-based products instead of solvent-based ones. * Use lead and mercury-free paints. Shellac * Use shellacs containing denatured alcohol not methyl alcohol. Oil & solvent- * Recycle by drying or sending to recycling soaked rags laundry SCULPTURE Elementary School Students Modeling clays * Use premixed clay or CP/AP modeling materials. Papier mache * Use black and white newspaper with CP/AP pastes or CP/AP instant papier maches made from cellulose. Secondary School Students Clay * See Ceramics Plastics Plastic resins * Do not use polyester, epoxy, acrylic, or polyurethane resins because of high toxicity. Solid plastics * Use saws instead of hot wire or torches. Stone Soapstone or * Carve alabaster or cast plaster. steatite Wax Waxes * Use beeswax or petroleum waxes, not chlorinated waxes. TEXTILE AND FIBER ARTS Elementary School Students Synthetic dyes * Use vegetable dyes (spinach, tea, onion skins, etc.) or food dyes. Synthetic fibers * Use fibers that have not been treated with formaldehyde sizings. Textile remnanats * Left-over textile scraps can be used for stuffing pillows or soft sculpture projects. Secondary School Students Fibers Animal fibers * Use hair and wool not imported from Mid or Far East because of anthrax. Dyeing Mordants * Use non-dichromate mordants. Fiber-reactives * Use liquid fiber-reactives, not powders. French dyes * Use water-based dyes. Vat & azoic dyes * Use other classes of dyes. Leather dyes * Use leather dyes containing denatured alcohol rather than other solvents. Batik Wax * See Sculpture, wax Dyes * See Dyeing. Solvents * Boil out or iron out wax instead of using solvents. Papermaking Woods, plants * Use non-allergenic and non-irritating materials. Lye * Recycle used paper and cardboard, or use rotten or mulched plant materials to avoid boiling in alkali. * Use soda ash (sodium carbonate) not lye. Dyes & Pigments * Use liquid dyes and pigments instead of powders. See also Dyeing. References 1. Babin, Angela and McCann, Michael. "Waste Management and Disposal for Artists and Schools". CSA, 1992. 2. Babin, Angela, Peltz, Perri, and Rossol, Monona. "Children's Art Supplies Can Be Toxic". CSA, 1989. 3. McCann, Michael, Artist Beware, 2nd Ed., Lyons & Burford Publishers, New York, 1992. 4. McCann, Michael, "Health & Safety for Secondary School Arts and Industrial Arts". CSA, 1989. 5. McCann, Michael, "Teaching Art Safely to the Disabled". CSA, 1987. 6. Spandorfer, Merle, Curtiss, Deborah and Snyder, Jack. Making Art Safely. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1993. For Further Information The information is excerpted from a poster produced with the assistance of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. Poster design by Marc Cozza, photography by John Kuzzala and printing by Drand Printing. Text was written by Angela Babin, M.S. The poser is available from the Center for Sfety in the Arts for $5.00. Written and telephoned inquiries about hazards in the arts will be answered by the Art Hazards Information Center of the Center for Safety in the Arts. Send a stamped, self-addressed envelope for a publication list. Write: Center for Safety in the Arts, 5 Beekman Street, New York, NY 10038. Telephone (212) 227-6220. CSA is also partially supported with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the NYS Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the NYS Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Training and Education Program. (c) copyright Center for Safety in the Arts 1993. 0 Discussion responses