# How dangerous is



## bradernske (May 2, 2012)

I have been developing b&w film in my bathroom for a few years as i dont have my own dark room, how dangerous is it? i dont have ventilation but i do wear a mask. Am i causing myself serious harm or will it be ok until i can afford a place that i can make my own darkroom.

thanks


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## Josh66 (May 2, 2012)

The fumes shouldn't be an issue.
(Really, the mask is probably overkill.)

Wear gloves if you don't want the chemicals on your skin.


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## chris (May 2, 2012)

If you are particularly sensitive to the chemicals then the mask may be of some use if mixing developer or fix from dry chemicals, otherwise it won't do anything except possibly feel uncomfortable unless it has some sort of scrubber system or separate air supply. As mentioned above you would benefit from gloves or barrier cream if teh chemicals give you dermatitis. I spent many days in darkrooms hand developing radiographs using essentially the same chemicals as for b&w film, sometimes having to reach to the bottom of a 2ft deep tank to retrieve films that had fallen out of the hangers, without ever having any adverse reaction. Take sensible precautions such as avoiding ingestion of the chemicals by not smoking or drinking while processing, wipe up spills and avoid splashes onto clothes etc and you should be fine.


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## compur (May 2, 2012)

The main issue is with the developer ingredient Metol, found in many commercial developers.  Some people have or develop an allergy to it which can cause skin problems after a while but others see no effects from it. Not all developers contain it.

As chris said, it's a good idea to wear gloves in any case and a mask when mixing dry chemicals.

Otherwise, most pre-mixed commercially sold photo chemistry is less toxic then the cleaning and solvent products many people keep under their sinks or in their garage or fuel  tanks. Just don't eat it or drink it or bathe in it.

However, there are some hazardous ingredients that are used by those who mix from scratch such as glacial acetic acid used to make stop bath, various dichromates used in alternative processes and others. These can be quite hazardous and require ample protection when used.


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## ann (May 2, 2012)

Most of the toxic chemicals have been taken off the market.  

TOning is another animal and needs to be done in a well ventilated area, and use tongs or gloves.

I have been doing darkroom work for over 64 years and the only problem , am hard to finger print  other than that nothing, nada, healthy as a horse.

p/s  I have spent 50-80 hours a week in a dark room, these days maybe 10-12.


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## JSER (May 2, 2012)

Blimy no one cared 20 years ago, toning yes, developing sheesh


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## bhop (May 2, 2012)

Unless you're doing many rolls every day, it probably won't harm you.


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## unpopular (May 2, 2012)

The fumes are aromatic phenols, which are very detectable by smell in very small quantifies, and similar materials are likely around you all the time in your environment, both natural and man-made. Similar compounds exist in the spices you bake with, cheese, decaying vegetables, your garbage can, coffee, smoked sausages and along the forest paths as phenolic compounds in pine or eucalyptuses decay.

Acetic acid found in stop bath is in concentrations higher than in table vinegar but still far from concentrated.

Everything else are either in such small quantities, or are used in food processing at similar concentrations anyway and are thought to be safe. In fact NaBr is used in parts of a the world as a seizure medication at rates up to 1g/day.

If you're really worried about it, install an air conditioner in the bathroom window and run in reverse, or rig up some kind of hood and use a fan with regular air filters or louvers to block out any stray light. In the least use a baffel. But as others have said, I wouldn't worry too much about the chemicals provided this is a hobby and you are not in there more than 30% your working day, every day for weeks on end.


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## BlackSheep (May 2, 2012)

There's lots of good info about health & safety in the darkroom in the thread stickied above, click here for direct link http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/darkroom/19002-important-health-safety-information.html


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## Josh66 (May 2, 2012)

If you're concerned about it, you should also get the MSDS for all of the chemicals you use.  You should be able to find it on the website of the manufacture of that particular chemical.

You can find it pretty quick on Google too.  For example, a PDF of the MSDS was the second result for searching 'rodinal msds'...  The MSDS will tell you what is in it, and what you should do if you get it on your skin/eyes, or drink it.


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## usayit (May 2, 2012)

I used my parents bathroom a lot.... the poopoo fart vent was more than enough.   My current home doesn't have a vent but I don't think there is much cause for alarm.

I'd say installing a vent in the bathroom is a whole lot easier than rigging an AC to flow backwards.


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## GregB (May 2, 2012)

I used to love all those darkroom smells, and I kinda miss them.


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## Josh66 (May 2, 2012)

usayit said:


> I used my parents bathroom a lot.... the poopoo fart vent was more than enough.


That's all I use.

The smell doesn't bother me...  My wife hates the smell of stop bath, but it reminds me of dying Easter eggs, lol.


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## unpopular (May 3, 2012)

Have you ever notice the smell of fix on your "bathing suit area" after a long day of working in the darkroom? As far as I know, this only happens to guys...


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## BlackSheep (May 3, 2012)

unpopular said:


> Have you ever notice the smell of fix on your "bathing suit area" after a long day of working in the darkroom? As far as I know, this only happens to guys...



haha, is that a real question, or are you joking around?

Definitely no for me, either way....


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## Josh66 (May 3, 2012)

No for me too, lol.

They both kind of smell similar to me (fixer and stop bath) - stop bath smells like vinegar (duh), and the fixer smells just like salt & vinegar potato chips.  :lmao:

I think the reason stop bath reminds me of Easter instead of just vinegar is because of the color.


A little more related to the actual topic (because it involves ingesting the chemicals) ... I remember reading somewhere that fixer was (er, contained) the antidote for cyanide poisoning.  Anyone ever heard of that?


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## BlackSheep (May 3, 2012)

I've heard that too, it's the sodium thiosulphate, I think?

Not sure if I'd want to try it though.

Edit, I just looked at our bottle of fixer and maybe its ammonium sulphate not sodium. For some reason I remembered the sodium thiosulphate, but that's not listed as an active ingredient so I could very easily be wrong.


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## ann (May 4, 2012)

it is the ammonium that probably is creating your smelling pants 

my darkroom clothes always smell, even after many washings. It might help if I didn't wipe my hands on my shirt all the time


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## unpopular (May 4, 2012)

LOL! No it's not a joke! I remember sitting in a public restroom and heard some of my classmates discussing it. I thought I was the only one.


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