[Leica] Why the mad rush / toxic chemicals

[mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)]

> When I was diagnosed with kidney cancer, the family concluded it was an 
> open
> and shut case - the darkroom got me.  Actually, my surgeon said there was
> really no specific for renal carcinoma, but to shut everyone up I promised
> to limit my exposure.  Then one evening I was walking past my son's room 
> and
> he was using this program, Photoshop...he showed me how to crop a photo and
> I was hooked.  That was v. 3 or 4 and now I'm on v. 10.  I figure that when
> I die my family will say, poor Ken, if only he knew the radiation he was
> absorbing from those monitors.
> 
> Seriously, I do think people should know the basics, which many instructors
> do not know.  You have to be committed to adequate fans and ventilation.  
> If
> you can smell it or taste it you are ingesting it.  My darkroom had twice
> the recommended air flow.  I won't go in our local student darkroom for 
> that
> reason.  Don't dunk your hands in solutions with heavy metals (fixer with
> dissolved silver, selenium, gold 231 and all that). If you are doing alt
> processes with some nasty stuff (amidol, pyro developers etc.) investigate
> further.  As other posters have noted, I believe it is all moot now for 
> most
> of us.  
> 
> Ken
> (A lot of my printing was platinum/palladium, where you pour the emulsion 
> on
> from a shot glass.  A major concern was that under safelight it looked a 
> lot
> like single malt -- a mental lapse might be really bad.)
>  


I take back all the terrible things I've been saying about you.

Mark William Rabiner