Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/11/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> On Nov 5, 2009, at 11:50 AM, Richard Man wrote: >> It occurs to me that there have been two trains running in these >> threads, one is the "what should the current crop of darkroom people >> do, in terms of safety?" and the answer probably comes down to >> Good ventilation, avoid touching, breathing, ingesting, any and all >> chemical whether in liquid, powder, or vapor form. Use "safe" chemical >> as much as possible (e.g. Xtol and others). >> The other thread is "OMG, I wasn't aware or I wasn't careful all those >> years ago" and the "unfortunately, lots of old darkroom workers got >> horrible problems due to unsafe exposure." >> I am mainly talking about the first thread, which unfortunately seems >> to have gotten some people upset because they mainly were talking >> about the second thread... > > > what we now do should be, in part, based on an objective evaluation of > what happened then... > conclusions, then new safer practices if needed. > is there in fact any clear conclusions, that lead to altered practices? > so far, I haven't been able to see a clear linkage... > > surely some of the old pro's who have lived through all this can > enlighten me, > > Steve > > Steve let me assure you there is no scandal or controversy involving black and white tray processing. Its common sense check it out a little first before you do it just like always. Take a class. For the few who are doing it. Its no big deal. Me the more I worked in the darkroom the more I tired to get my hands less wet. I got myself using tongs and then later when dealing with selenium toner or mixing up a gallon or trays of chemicals I'd slip on the rubber gloves. Just like a lot of friends of mine in Portland. Some of us may have even used Amidol once or twice or a few other less traditional chemistries. Mark William Rabiner