Is CADMIUM safe for your Art Pallet?
CADMIUM FACTS
This may SHOCK YOU but STUDENT PAINT has NO CADMIUM and is much Cheaper. $$$
REAL Cadmium is NOT PERMEABLE into the SKIN BUT people with Metal Allergies can have a reaction.
The main sources for poisoning are through industrial exposure, contaminated foods and Especially smoking.
NOT artist paints and below we can look at why. Still don't eat your paint please.
"Cadmium pigments:
In the hundred years since their first manufacture, cadmium pigments now have a VERY LOW LEVEL of bioavailable cadmium metal in their chemical composition.
Today many painters consider Cadmium Dangerous and Toxic. This is partly due to word of mouth and the internet having old information surfacing as new. IF Cadmium paints were made from Cadmium metals they would be dangerous BUT they are made from Cadmium compounded with Sulfur. This and sulfur and Selenium for red formula's. American paint manufacturers
of cadmium pigments have developed production systems that yield cadmium pigments that are relatively insoluble in the human digestive system.
" They have been so successful that Gamblin Cadmium oil colors DO NOT REQUIRE an ASTM health-warning label for ingestion. Cadmium pigments contained about 1000 part sper million (PPM) bio available cadmium. Now cadmium pigments that I choose to make Gamblin Artists Colors contain only about 5 PPM cadmium that can be absorbed through ingestion. “
CadMIuM PIGMents
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THe most important of these is the range of yellow, orange and red pigments based on cadmium, which is a toxic heavy metal and is regarded by the California regulators as a possible carcinogen.
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Modern cadmium pigments use a coating technology which “locks in” the harmful pigment particles, and renders them relatively inert and harmless.
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ACMI, the regulator which sets the rules for warning labels on artists paint has rated cadmium colours “AP non-toxic” because of the coating.
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A sensible person might decide to use cadmium colours a bit more carefully than the other colours marked “non-toxic”. How would you keep them out of your body, just to be on the safe side?
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Cadmium is a cumulative poison which cannot penetrate the skin, is probably not absorbed by eating it, because of the coating as it passes through, but in the lungs it would remain for a long time, and the coating could break down, so if you really want to spray it, why not wear the recommended mask?
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While it does not penetrate the skin, paintY FINGERS on cigarettes can transfer pigment to the cigarette, which explodes the cadmium as you smoke: this is the most obviously dangerous entry point to your body. “
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I am hoping to give you more information as to how and Where Cadmium poisoning can occur. The primary places that people get dangerous levels of Cadmium are Cigarettes. Smoking is very Dangerous. Cadmium in Cigarette Smoke A single cigarette typically contains 1-2 mcg of cadmium. When burned, cadmium is present at a level of 1,000-3,000 ppb in the smoke. Approximately 40 to 60 percent of the cadmium inhaled from cigarette smoke is able to pass through the lungs and into the body. This means that for each pack of cigarettes smoked, a person can absorb an additional 1-3 mcg of cadmium over what is taken in from other sources in their daily life.People who work in certain high-risk occupations may face an increased risk of cadmium exposure. This would include people who work with: Soldering and Welding.Industrial products for construction. People working in industrial or construction trades Sanding paintings or manufacturing paint. ( oil artists will often make their own paint and the pigments come in powdered form)Airbrush Artists: Use NIOSH dust respiratorArtist who sand art work: NIOSH dust respiratorIn Regards to paint Safety ( http://www.azarts.gov/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/SWAC-2009-Safer-Studios-Safer-Artists-Handouts.pdf ). European brands sometimes carry health warning labels if the Cadmium pigmentsused come from a factory that cannot meet these standards.Cadmium pigments remain hazardous if they are inhaled. I recommend you useNIOSH dust respirator if you sand surfaces made with a high percentage ofCadmium colors. Inhalation exposure can also occur while making paint by hand grinding cadmium colors. But there is no dust or fumes that come off paints from the tube.
http://forum.drawmixpaint.com/discussion/1157/maybe-this-can-help-ease-some-peoples-fears-about-cadmium-paint
lAwesome information!
Thanks, Cinnamon. Great information.