Developing Chemicals - Question and Quandry

[michael_sample]

I just came home with an armload of stuff to process B&W at home. Amongst the

various bottles and boxes is a package of Agfa Rodinal B&W Film Developer.

 

My Question: Can this be used to develop prints as well? The guy at the store

made some vague mention of Universal Developer, but I dont see any indication

that this is it.

 

Also. It says on the box, in bold letters:

Dangerous for the Environment. Toxic to Aquatic Organisms, Risk of assorted

horrible things, avoid release to the environment.

 

I think my buddies at Greenpeace would give me a bit of a kicking if they knew I

so much as possessed this stuff.

I've heard mention of more environmentally-conscious chemicals. I've heard of

Kodak XTOL, but aside from it being essentially Vitamin C, I know little about

it, and what it can do (ie, prints, film, both).

 

Does anyone know of good, healthier and cleaner options in the darkroom?

 

Thanks.

[btmuir]

Go to freestyle photo supply (can't recall the url at the moment. I remember seeing a few

alternative "Green" friendly chemical companies offering stuff lately. Maybe a trend?

 

of course you will have to try and analyze if you like the results compared to the old standby

toxic stuff....

[walter_degroot]

companies today have to be wosses, lest someone drink the stuff.

the gap between science and the general public is growing rapidly. many necessary houshold chemicals are far more dangerous.

 

Rodinal is a highly concentrated developer and by the time you dilute it 1:25, 1:50, or 1:100; the warnings mean much less. To develop a roll of film you actually need very little of the developer concentrate.

 

Reminds me of a bride that adamantely insisted on a digital-only

wedding photographer because of CHEMICALS used with film.

 

Of course she had a "very short nose" and didn't see or realize that figital photography and the manufacturing processes of plactics metals and semiconductor devices requied many quite radital chemicals and processes. And could cause even greater pollution. but not in HER backyard.

 

Auto and computer manufacturing causes pollution, too. are you willing to walk everywhere and do without your computer?

 

even an economy and lifestyle of the early 1800's created what we now see as Polution.

 

Runninbg your diswasher and using energy is better than getting sick from unsterilized dishes and using all that medicine made in possibly pollution-causing factories and labs,

 

I suppose you could use rodinal as a paper developer but it would be inefficient. dektol paper developer is a very strong film developer.

but you probably would not like the results,

 

Maybe someone has worked out how to use a diluted paper developer as a film develooper

[bgelfand]

First, Rodinal is not a paper developer. Purchase and mix some Dektol for paper.

 

Toxic is a matter of degree. In small enough quantities, nothing is toxic (of course with some substances you need to have very, very small quantities not to be toxic), and in a high enough concentration, almost anything is toxic.

 

As for your Greenpeace buddies you may like this one:

 

A freshman at Eagle Rock Junior High won first prize at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair, April 26. He was attempting to show how conditioned we have become to alarmists practicing junk science and spreading fear of everything in our environment. In his project he urged people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical "dihydrogen monoxide."

 

And for plenty of good reasons, since it can --

1. cause excessive sweating and vomiting

2. it is a major component in acid rain

3. it can cause severe burns in its gaseous state

4. accidental inhalation can kill you

5. it contributes to erosion

6. it decreases the effectiveness of automobile brakes

7. it has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients

 

He asked 50 people if they supported a ban of the chemical. Forty-three said yes, six were undecided, and only one knew that the chemical was water (H20).

 

The title of his prize-winning project was, "How Gullible Are We?" He feels the conclusion is obvious.

[d_s31]

There you go! A double whammy against Rodinal: it's toxic and you have to dilute it in dihydrogen monoxide! <p/>Sorry, couldn't resist.<p/>By the way, how do the Greenpeace folks feel when they ram ships and all the oil and whatnot spews into the ocean? And using violence to further their goals? That's what terrorists do.

[jukka_lehmus]

Rodinal is OK but smells a little bit strange.

 

I remember seeing a pamphlet about "ecologically-friendly photo processing" some time ago, by some Finnish greenpeace people. The main concern I remember was about silver recovery of the discarded chemicals. It is quite probable that the one or two grams of silver in used fixer is more hazardous to the environment than that hydroquinone in your Rodinal.

[jordan_w.]

There is no hydroquinone in Rodinal, and XTOL contains far more than "essentially Vitamin C" -- powdered XTOL is probably no more than about 10% Vitamin C by weight. The rest is borates, chelating agents, sodium sulfite, and phenidone.

 

Ultimately, the labelling on these packages is governed by EH&S laws, which explains the dire warnings. Rodinal is indeed harmful if you dump a bottle full of it directly into a lake. However, using it at its normal dilution and then pouring the used solution down the drain is a totally different story.

[terry_m7]

Your Local or County Government should have a programme in place to take old chemicals for disposal. Check the Blue Pages in the Phone Book. Also, if the solution is almost entirely water, you could boil it away on a stove, and then just send the small amount of solid residue left behind away for disposal.

[thomas_sharka]

I recently obtained the excellent "Film Developing Cookbook" by Anchell and Troop. One or two of the formulas in the book require boric acid and I thought I might be able to obtain it locally. All pharmacies that I went to said that it was a dangerous chemical and had been removed from the shelves. This is in response to the EPA labeling it as such. Looking at the majority of eye care products on the shelves of the pharmacies, I note that the main active ingredient is "boric acid".

 

Of course the same EPA has put out MSDS for sodium bicarbonate that reads like a horror story of epic proportions. Bottom line, I can get sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid at my local hardware store, but I can't get boric acid anywhere but at chemical supply houses.