Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/11/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Maybe I'm mad, but I still miss the smell, And the yellowish nails, They probably mean to me I was young, When I longued for a Leitz/Leica/Leica Camera AG ... But I still DO =-O Phx, still waiting for an R9.2 diesel tedgrant at shaw.ca wrote: > Darkrooms and chemicals etc: > > I suppose my first exposure to hands in wet photo chemical trays > would've been June 1949! > Right up to about 5-6 years ago when we went all digital. Trust me > I'll never go back no matter what anyone croons about the joys of the > good old days being in the darkroom! Hey I loved it, it was my quiet > time of true silence! Relaxing accept when making 16X20 fine art > prints.... lots of tension during those times with absolutely no one > ever saying a word! Total silence and mental concentration on the > print making! A peep from anyone and they were out & gone! > > During the 57 years I never used gloves, occasionally tongs, but you > can't soup 25 prints at one batch flipping prints over and over with > tongs... Hands only! My record for souping prints in one batch? 55 > prints dropped into the tray one right after the other by an assistant > while I was flipping one print after the other in the chemicals. Then > through the other trays to washer. My good fortune? I never > experienced any hand or finger nail staining. > > As far as I know from lung x-rays during other conditions, no damage > or any other chemical influence inside the lungs has ever been picked > up. By the same token a couple of my buddies, now long gone due to > lung cancer or other deadly lung maladies, there was a question if > their deaths were due to long time darkroom mixing chemicals and hands > in the wet trays. Generally pasted off with, "Naw that kind of stuff > never bothers anyone. He was a smoker and died from that!" However? > Did it? Was it maybe the chemicals? > > When I was developing prints as soon as I finished I always washed my > hands in the stop bath, acetic acid & water. Then do the same thing in > the fixer tray.... Followed by a good water washing. Did that or was > that why I didn't have any staining as many others did? Or other > bodily influences? > > I'm glad digital came along when it finally did, although it was 45 > years too late for what it could of done during my career. > > Dr. ted > > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Nichols" > <jhnichols at lighttube.net> > To: "Leica Users Group" <lug at leica-users.org> > Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 10:15 AM > Subject: Re: [Leica] Why the mad rush / toxicity > > >> Hi Steve, >> >> My darkroom exposure, like yours, was more than 40 years ago, and was >> not >> extensive. I never considered the toxicity of the chemical exposure, >> thinking there was not much of a problem unless they were ingested. >> >> My late father-in-law made his living from a small studio for a >> number of >> years. He hated gloves, so his nails were often discolored, but he >> was not >> aware of other symptoms. He was active until he suffered a stroke at >> 90, >> and died at 91. >> >> Jim Nichols >> Tullahoma, TN USA >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Barbour" >> <steve.barbour at gmail.com> >> To: "Leica Users Group" <lug at leica-users.org> >> Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 12:03 PM >> Subject: Re: [Leica] Why the mad rush / toxicity >> >> >>> hi Mark and thanks, >>> >>> I am reading some of the current information and warnings...Back >>> when I >>> worked in a photo darkroom in a very amateurish way, 40 years ago, >>> there >>> was no particular concern, no warnings, I took no special precautions, >>> 'cus the general feeling was that risk was low and seemingly >>> non-existent... >>> >>> at that time, the idea that the chemicals either by contact or by >>> inhalation were inherently toxic, never dawned, was not at issue, even >>> though I was a professor at that time on a medical school faculty, and >>> trained in depth in biochemistry, molecular biology, microbial >>> genetics... >>> >>> I have survived the intervening time without any obvious damage, >>> but my >>> exposures were surely minimal compared to many. >>> >>> One has to think of the possible analogy with the story of Marie and >>> Pierre Curie who won Nobel prizes for their work with radioactive >>> compounds, but who had no idea of the associated serious risks, and >>> suffered from these...at least severe burns, and Marie's death from >>> aplastic anemia. (Pierre died prematurely from a fractured skull >>> after a >>> street acident). >>> >>> So all this talk about toxicity and precautions is an eye opener >>> for me, >>> and the concerns are admittedly tainted by the self serving >>> overreaction >>> of regulatory agencies, as usual "a day late and a dollar short"... >>> >>> >>> Steve >>> >>> >>> >>> On Nov 5, 2009, at 2:58 AM, Mark Rabiner wrote: >>> >>>>> >>>>> On Nov 4, 2009, at 7:16 PM, Richard Man wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> What are you? A doctor?!!! >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> yes, but..... >>>>> >>>>> I am reading all this stuff... >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> http://www.subclub.org/darkroom/safety.htm >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> " Use tubes instead of trays for all processing. " >>>> Wildly delusional and totally out of the loupe would be thus my >>>> opinion >>>> on >>>> the subclub. >>>> Fiber doesn't work with tubes and if they did you'd still not want to >>>> use >>>> them. >>>> Use rubber gloves with trays and you'll do fine making an effort >>>> to not >>>> smell the powders. If you know what it smells like its already >>>> entered >>>> your >>>> body. (Dektol vs. Hypo) Make sure you don't know. Know by reading not >>>> smelling. >>>> >>>> Most people who have had darkroom problems come from a generation >>>> (The >>>> 60's >>>> and before) where they used their hands not tongs and nobody cared >>>> about >>>> stuff like not breathing powders. Arthritis was what a lot of these >>>> guys >>>> seemed to have gotten from no tongs. Rarely anything else. >>>> 1 in 1000 gets Metol / Elon reactions. They need to stay out of the >>>> darkroom >>>> but maybe go with Phenidone. >>>> Its the people who experimenting in alternate processes who run into >>>> trouble. >>>> Gum Bichromate. potassium dichromate is nasty stuff. >>>> Platinum printing maybe I think I heard will do you in if your >>>> stupid. >>>> >>>> But since the 70's at a college darkroom they made you be careful. >>>> That's when I switched from my hands to tongs. >>>> >>>> >>>> Mark William Rabiner >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Leica Users Group. >>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Leica Users Group. >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >>> >>> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 8.5.424 / Virus Database: 270.14.51/2482 - Release Date: > 11/05/09 07:37:00 > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > >