vapors

I am going to develop my first roll of film. I have a black bag and will mix

the cehmicals in the kitchen. Is there a problem with poisonous fumes and how

should I deal with these fumes. I'll wear gloves and eye protection and old

clothes but what about the vapors.

Jay, the chemicals are not that bad. I never worry about ventilation when developing film. I run the fan when I print because the open trays of chemicals can get a little overwhelming at times. Just take reasonable precaution when mixing dry powders not to let them get airborne and you will be alright. I don't even wear gloves (pyro developers are different) If you use a developer like D-76, stop and fix, you don't have to go crazy with gloves, eye protection, / old clothes,etc...If you feel safe doing so, then go ahead, but I haven't met anyone who wears goggles in the darkroom.

 

One last thing to be VERY careful of: Developing film and darkroom work is highly addictive and your wallet should be protected at all times.

 

Have fun!

Jay, First off you should have a well ventilated room to develop your film in. If you really

want to be safe, wear eye protection, an apron and use rubber gloves. If you feel that the

fumes are too strong, wear a face mask. I hope your first attempt is successful!

I did a HECK of a lot of film processing and printing in my younger days. The fumes really knocked me out--especially fixer. I also came down with mild asthma over time, and had cancer at a fairly young age (as did a lot of my other photo friends). While you can't put your finger on the source of a disease, I often wondered if all the exposure to chemicals is what did it.

 

I always wear gloves and keep a very clean work surface. I also switched to Ilford chemistry which is not as unbearable to me as "others", though you can do some things with citris juice and vinegar to simulate fixer and stop. Work in a ventilated space and be careful.

Most people cannot smell the "vapors." The only odor in most darkrooms is fixer, particularly ammonium thiosulfate in rapid fixer, it smells, but its not that bad. (Some say it smells like creativity!)

 

Good luck, and have fun.

For developing roll film with standard chemicals, fumes shouldn't be a problem. Personally, I don't find gloves, eye protection, or protective clothing necessary. However, if fumes are a real concern for you, there's always the outdoors.

<p>Standard B&W fixer and B&W developers (i.e. D-76 or XTOL) are not particularly toxic. I'd be more concerned breathing in vapors from other household chemicals, such as bug spray.</p>

<p>There are more serious things to worry about, in my opinion.</p>

We all will die .. enjoy it... I have never had any problem.... Using it in any Good sized room is no problem. Printing is another story.

 

Only gloves I use are the cotten ones for my negatives after they are dry. Good Karma and if you fail try again.

 

Larry

Hi Jay!

 

I think that there is a lot of 21st century paranoia talked and written about safety in the darkroom. Certainly overalls, gloves and in extreme conditions an extractor fan may be a good idea, but hardly essential.

 

The overalls are mainly to keep the chemicals from splashing on your clothes and the gloves, because continually making your hands wet with photochemicals over many years can lead to itchy skin conditions.

 

If you should splash a little in your eyes, simply wash them thoroughly with an eyebath a.s.a.p. I don't know of anyone who has damaged their sight by splashing photochems into their eyes.

 

There's no point in installing an extraction fan unless you intend to work in the darkroom full time, I don't know of many photographers who have bothered, they are really only required by professional photographic printers.

 

As for unpleasant smells, you'll find that there are readily available odourless substitutions for both Stop Bath and Fixer.

 

Whatever, just go into the darkroom, stop worrying (without being stupid! - i.e. drinking it etc.) and start having fun.

Mister Powell

 

Well Said.

 

Larry

Depends on what developers you are using. The only ones that are toxic are the Pyro staining developers. Others are fairly innocuous and don't really smell. Stop bath smells of vinegar (but you don't really need it) and fixer smells very mildly but isn't harmful.

 

I don't use glasses, extractors or full NBC suits. There's no need!

Jay,

 

a standard developer does not release any fumes. Stopbath smells like vinegar (if made from acetic acid), but this is harmless. Fixer can release some SO2, which can irritate your lungs when you keep your head closely over the fixer tray for minutes to examine the print; or when you develop and fix prints in a small room without any ventilation and without ever opening the door. But no such thing is likely to occur during film development, where the fixer is used in a closed tank.

 

I am a little surprised that none of the posters so far had a problem with the word "kitchen" in your question. It is defintively minimal standard in "good laboratory practice" to keep chemicals as far away from food as possible. Usually there is not much take-up of chemicals through the skin (especially with the water-based stuff used in photography), so if you spill a few droplets on your hands, just wash it away quickly. But when you contaminate yout foodstuff with chemicals, uptake over the digestive tract is much more efficient (and therefore more dangerous).

 

So, please, use the bathroom (or any other room with running water and a sink) for handling chemicals, NEVER the kitchen. You ALWAYS spray some little droplets or some tiny powder when you work with chemicals (I learned this when I once handled a really strong powder dye: spots everywhere), so work in a room with no food, and that can be easily cleaned from time to time.

 

Gloves are not essential for usual B&W stuff, but try to avoid contact of chemicals with your skin. If it happens, rinse with water immediately. If you have to left hands (or a not completely tight developing tank), use gloves. It does not hurt.

 

Simple paper face masks do not help anything to avoid inhalation of fumes. You could use one when mixing a developer from powder, but this is kind of work I prefer to do outside of my flat (e.g. on the balcony), with the wind blowing away drom me. Please do not even THINK of mixing powder developer in the kitchen.

 

There is no reason for paranoia, but please always use your common sense when working with chemicals - especially when you work in your flat, where you might spend most of the day.

 

Regards

 

Georg

I've developed film in bathrooms, closets, darkrooms, and the trunk of a car, and I never once had any problem with fumes. I have no idea who's chemicals you guys are using, or how sensative to smells you are, but if you use simple common sense there is no reason to need a bunny suit to develop film.

 

Fixer concentrate will have a smell to it if you stick your face right up to the bottle, and just mixed fixer may have a slight odor, but I've never in my life smelled any fixer that stank as strongly as a bottle of bleach or ammonia (common household cleaning agents).

 

Relax and have fun - the fumes you breath everyday commuting to work are far more toxic than most any darkroom chemical. Just use common sense as you would with any chemical and you should be just fine.

 

- Randyh

Jay

 

Many yars ago, Formaldehtde was a component of coulour processes, and it IS a severe sensitizer and irritant. This was the reason many darkrooms had ventilators added. I worked in a lab in the 60s where it was not extracted and the irritation was very real. OSHA regs demanded ventilation in commercial operations and ultimately the formulations were changed to eliminate the formaldehyde.

 

As mentioned, a bit of SO2 may come of fixers but other than that, avoid contact with all powders and minimize skin contact with solutions where possible. I use gloves only for Amidol and Pyro developers. I use goggles and a mask if I need to mix these dry two powders.

 

Cheers

Well, I go with Joe Paluh.

 

Joe, do I need to wear a bullet proof vest under the apron, or

perhaps a cotton or a silk shirt would do?