This section will give general information for those wishing to avoid health problems caused by their art making. See all the sections in the Basic Important Info area and also see the Discipline Specific Warning Section for more info. Please remember that just because your discipline isn't highlighted for its own section doesn't mean that there are not any health/occupational hazards associated with your discipline. Fiber Arts, Woodworking, Casting, and using dyes, can all become unsafe if you do not take the right safety precautions. All these sections on Occupational Health issues are meant to solely increase your awareness of certain potential hazards and are not intended to act as a complete guide. Medical concerns should be immediately communicated to your physician or a responsible health care provider. Also make sure you know how to dispose of your hazardous products correctly. If you have or had cancer and/or any type of immune deficiency you should not use any chemicals/hazardous without checking first with your doctor.
IMPORTANT INFO:
If your work space is where you live, you must take EXTRA precautions
and stick to them!!! IF you have an impaired immune system or HIV/AIDS you
need to be very careful not to further damage your immune system. AND if you
have small children you need to be very, very careful with your exposure,
their expose, and general fire safety concerns!!
EVERY STUDIO should have a fire extinguisher, a First AID Kit, and a list of emergency phone numbers and people to contact (ie relatives) in clearly marked areas in the studio.
PREGNANCY: If you work with any type of chemicals/hazardous materials and are trying to become pregnant or become pregnant -STOP using them immediately and call ACTS (number listed in the phone section) for more info on what products are safe for you to use.
TRACKING UNSAFE MATERIALS HOME: Most people forget that they can track unwanted hazardous material home with them. Always store and wash your work clothes separately from your other clothes (ie don't put them in the hamper). If you can take a shower at work do so and have a complete change of clothes including shoes to wear home.
RESEARCH THE PRODUCTS YOU PLAN TO USE BEFORE HAND AND READ THE LABELS CAREFULLY: We can not stress this enough. Make sure you have the proper safety equipment and work environment (ie good ventilation, proper fire equipment, etc..) Sometimes there are several different types/versions of one material/"product"! Some are more dangerous than others. Make sure you buy the right one!!
WARNING LABELS: One should always heed warning labels. Also one should be aware that all warning labels are based on 24 hr day- an 8 hr work day using the product with 16 hours for the product to be cleaned out of your body's system. Which means, that even though a product may not say it is dangerous to your body, if you use it over 8 hours a day, you could get sick from it. And if you do this regularly you could have real long term medical problems (become allergic to a product/ destroy your immune system etc..). For example, lets say one is a print maker in a commercial printing company by day and after your day at work you go home and do print making with the same type of chemicals for another 2-4 hours. You might be heading for real trouble. The same holds true if you spend too many consecutive hours in the dark room. Only if a product states it is non toxic and safe for children is it ok to maintain this type of work behavior.
SOME WARNING LABELS are inaccurate: Some manufactures are not living up to the LAW. We recommend that before you buy a new product, heck, if you are using a product you have used for years, check it out (see our books and publications list). As of this date, you still only get one body for the duration of your lifetime. AND, if you find the labeling not to be up to the law REPORT the company.
ONLY BUY the amount of a hazardous product you really need. Even though it may be cheaper to buy a gallon of a hazardous product, if you really only need 1/2 gallon and don't plan to use the product in a months time BUY the smaller quantity. Why? 1) sometimes products lose their potency over long periods of time 2) you don't need to have a collection of hazardous time bombs in your studio!
ALWAYS HAVE GOOD VENTILATION: This goes even if you are using latex paint!! AND wear the proper respirators/masks if you need to.
IF POSSIBLE, ALWAYS OPT FOR MINERAL SPIRITS OVER TURPENTINE.
REMEMBER JUST BECAUSE IT ISN'T MAN MADE DOESN'T MEAN IT IS SAFE: One needs to be aware of biological hazards. Some natural products are just as hazardous as the man made products. One also needs to be aware of molds and funguses. One artist, who was working with bread and letting it age, found out that something as common as bread mold CAN be very hazardous to your health (that's why moms always throw away moldy bread). And when one breaks ups moldy stale bread it is very risky. It causes the mold particles to become even more air borne; thus increasing one's chance to breath them in. One health care professional came to see this particular artist's show and when she smelled the mold she refused to go into the exhibit (when you smell something it means you are inhaling it).
SMOKING & EATING: If you have been having a hard time quitting smoking this might help you do so. Smoking, as we all know is bad for your health, but smoking and working with any type of chemicals or hazardous materials (dusts from such things as silica, pigments, etc..) could be deadly. Inhaled cigarette smoke carries airborne vapors and poisonousness fumes deep into the lungs. THUS SECOND hand smoke in an artist's work environment is also deadly.
The same holds true when eating. Tiny dust particles can get on eating utensils (and cigarettes) and soiled hands can transfer materials to food (and cigarettes) and then to you.
AIRBORNE PARTICLES: Dust from any type of art making- weather it is carving stone, wood working, sanding, any thing that has dust (even when you are sweeping up large amounts of dust/dirt in the studio), one should always wear a dust mask.
ALWAYS WEAR PROTECTIVE EYE GEAR & GLOVES. That goes for working with anything that can get into your eyes- plaster chips (when breaking open a mold), dust, glass, working with UV light, etc... That goes the same for wearing gloves - your skin absorbs liquids, so wear gloves when working with hazardous materials
SAFETY IN NUMBERS: When using dangerous materials, equipment (power tools), live electricity, and/or using ladders- never never be alone- make sure some one is going to be PHYSICALLY around or at least have someone come by periodically (in person) to check on you.
CARPEL TUNNEL from repeated motions/ tasks is something to take seriously. That goes for jewelers to dancers to writers who work long on computers. Carpel Tunnel isn't something that one detects right away, it takes time for it to manifest. One such example of this is that a large number of women photographers wind up with very serious back, shoulder and leg problems (much like athletes!), due to the fact of their many years of carrying photo equipment without taking the proper precautions. It is worth the investment to buy the right equipment or hire folks to help you carry heavy equipment. This can help you to avoid such problems (dancers should be careful on the types of floors they practice on & the types of shoes they wear etc..).
ONE LAST TIP: Lighters, such as the plastic disposable ones or any other kind for that matter, are not the best choice for lighting welding equipment and other flame/heat producing equipment. They are little bombs waiting to explode. If they get hot enough they explode. One story was told to us of a person keeping a disposable lighter in his pocket while welding. It exploded/ ignited. Not a nice ending to say the least.
A very quick check list
A very quick
check list to see if you might need to seek out a health care professional
or at least research ways to protect your self from such potential problems:
Are you exposed to any of the following: Asbestos, Lead, Solvents, Silica, any type of industrial chemicals?
If you are or have been exposed to any of the above do you have any of the following symptoms:
Have you recently become short of breath?
Do you have health problems such as: headaches, dizziness or eye irritation that seem to go away when away from your work area or during vacations?
Do you have any Flu-like symptoms that seem to never quite go away?
If you have answered yes to any of these questions, then you should seek medical attention from a health care provider who is trained in Occupational health issues AND also read the below section.
If work related injury or illness is suspected:
1. Keep a list of all activities which you are involved in.2. Know the composition of your materials. Provide the physician with the Materials Safety Data Sheets (M.S.D.S.) obtained from the manufacturer or labels from the materials (To figure out what course of action to take, doctors need to know all the materials you have been working with ).
3. Keep a log of recent exposures.
4. Have regular checkups if you are routinely working with hazardous materials.
5. Medical concerns should be immediately communicated to your physician or a responsible health care provider.
