how paranoid do I need to be about pyro?

[Max Wendt]

I just did my first (rollo) pyro processing in my terminally leaky unicolor drum (I've done everything to fix it, but it still leaks - I'll never use it again).

Anyway, I put a tray down to catch the drips, and of course, it found a way to miss. My work surface is the top of the clothes washer, and some of it leaked down into the tub (onto clean clothes I didn't realize were there).

So, the main danger is from inhaling the power that remains after it dries, right? I rinsed out the tub, wiped up all the spills, and rewashed the clothes.

Is this sufficient, or do I need to do more? (are the clothes ruined?)

[Ralph Barker]

There was a discussion about pyro paranoia, re I mean risks, a couple of weeks ago. Although the real scientific evidence is rather lacking, it would appear that normal, fairly cautious cleanup is probably sufficient. Unless the clothes are actually stained, re-washing them once was probably sufficient, as well.

Please note that I'm neither a doctor, nor a public health official. Thus, my opinion is worth about the same as your cat's.

[Merg Ross]

Hi Max-

As a photo practitioner for fifty years, I echo Ralph's comments. I suggest that this forum may not be the place to seek unbiased opinions on the hazards of Pyro or any other chemical used in the photo process. Yes, I used Pyro fifty years ago.

[Brian C. Miller]

Your clothes are fine, don't worry about it. No stains, then no problem.

[Jay DeFehr]

If you ask again in 40 years or so, I might be able to give you some kind of informed advice. In the meantime, if controlling your exposure or nagging doubts about pyro's safety prove worrying, switch to another kind of developer that doesn't suffer from frequent and inconclusive safety debates.

[Jeff Moore]

You have six months to live. Leave all your photgraphic equipment to me in your will; I'll give it a good home.

[Jim_3565]

Paranoid? Who you calling paranoid? Just because pyro is an integral part of the government's secret plans to dissolve our brains doesn't mean you shouldn't use it. I'd be careful, though. Remember that it eats right through both steel and concrete. That's why the Nazis used it in the Reichstag fire.

The good news is that if you stop using it both the Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases that it causes should clear up instantly. I know mine did.

[Erik Sherman]

It's not paranoia - I once had a bottle of pyro stalking me, following my every move. Oh, wait, that was a bottle of hype - uh, I mean hypo.

[Max Wendt]

Thanks for the replies, and the laughs! Sorry I missed the discussion a few weeks ago - I was a bit nervous last night and did just a short search.

No stains on the clothes, much less worry this morning.

(and not to throw fuel on the fire, the most beautiful neg I've ever done myself...)

[tim o'brien]

" On this very forum within the past few weeks we had a knowledgeable poster state that "Pyro makes you insane". To top it off, the thread this was on showed that it must be true.

--Dan Smith, 2004-07-11 22:28:02 "

I am just CRAZY about pyro.

The stain of pyro is on my sole.

Just call me a pyro maniac.

pyro pyro pyro, bananafanafophyro, feefifophyro, pyro!

Next time, use rubbers (gloves that is), put down a couple sheets of newsprint, and get a better tank.

tim in san jose (I have been using it for more than a year and nothing, well almost nothing, has happened to me)

[Hans Berkhout]

assuming you live in a police state, you should be very paranoid.

[Andre Noble]

Yes, I live in S. California.

[Ole Tjugen]

Yet another case of pyronoia...

I mixed pyro for the first time a few weeks ago. The bottle was really tightly closed, and that cap just didn't want to come off! The rubber stopper inside thee cap had jammed very tightly in the bottleneck - when it finally came off it FLEW off. Since I had tried to be extra, extra careful it naturally hit me in the shoulder...

As soon as I had finished the mixing and developing I took a shower and changed to a clean shirt.

I'm still alive and well :)