Darkroom chemical exposure and medication interactions

[Steve Williams_812]

Last fall I was suddenly (in several days) felled by psoriatic arthritis -- normal one day and a few latter was almost in a wheelchair. I was diagnosed quickly and put on a methotrexate dose once a week which has returned me almost to normal with no damage to joints evident in X-rays. That's the good news. The not so good news is that I will have to take the medication forever, or until it quits working, a cure is discovered, or I die. It can take a toll (though described as minimal) on liver and kidneys hence some routine monitoring of blood levels of something or other. So far so good.

Here's my concern --- since this started (an an unfortunate plumbing disaster in the darkroom) I have stopped shooting or processing film. I've repaired the darkroom but have some misgivings about adding any chemical exposure load to my body from film developer or Dektol. Ventilation is great in the darkroom but I process film in a tray by hand (without gloves for years). I've considered another JOBO, BTZS tubes, nitrile gloves, etc. Still I'm worried about someone with a suppressed immune system and potential extra load on the old internal organs being in a photo chemical environment.

Anyone have any experience on whether my concerns have merit or am I just engaging in catastrophic thinking? All part of the "I'm only 57" thought process related to the PA diagnosis.

I've been shooting with a view camera for over 40 years and the thought of abandoning it is unsettling.

Thanks for any opinions or feedback.

[Pawlowski6132]

You might want to get a professional opinion. Not one from all the goofballs here.

[Steve Williams_812]

You might want to get a professional opinion. Not one from all the goofballs here.

Easier said than done. From three physicians I've received shrugs. A fourth said if I was worried I should stop. Not much help.

Seeing a rheumatologist at Johns Hopkins on Monday. I'll ask one last time.

Are there really goofballs here?? :p

[Vaughn]

I do not know the possible interactions between the darkroom chemicals and your condition and medication. If there is any allergy proponent, then you might need to take special care with developers...metol especially. You might consider alternatives (such as the Ilford PQ developer).

Otherwise, just treat the darkroom as one would treat any potentially harmful working environment. Good ventilation (that take fumes from the trays away from your face -- not past your face), gloves and common sense.

One aspect of any medical problem that is often over-looked is the mental well-being of the person. If photography is something one loves, than it should be continued if at all possible. IMO, a happy patient has a higher chance of a positive outcome than a depressed one.

I wish you the best.

Vaughn Goofball Hutchins

[ROL]

Are there really goofballs here?? :p

PRESENT.

(Wear nitrile gloves, keep up the ventillation, limit your time in the lab – and do what makes ya happy).

[Doremus Scudder]

===Warning===
Non-professional opinion below!

That said, there are many ways to significantly reduce your exposure to possibly interactive chemicals in the darkroom.

First, try to standardize on the least toxic chemicals possible. Switch to Xtol or another vitamin C-based developer to reduce possible interactions with Metol, hydroquinone, etc. At least use a PQ developer. Regular and citric-acid stop baths should be no problem. For fix, you need to use one that is as odorless as possible (sulfur dioxide/ammonia fumes). Maybe TF-5 or even Ilford Rapid Fix would fit the bill. If you tone, especially with more toxic/smelly chemicals, be very meticulous.

Second, eliminate or minimize contact with chemicals by wearing gloves when processing and gloves and respirator/mask/goggles when mixing. Wear a lab coat or apron and long-sleeves to cover skin above the gloves as well if there is danger of splashing. Buy liquid concentrates to eliminate dust from powdered chemicals. Use good ventilation (which you have) and have a deep sink and good practices for disposing of chemicals to minimize splashes, residue, etc.

All this is just common sense. Wearing nitrile gloves takes a bit of getting used to after 40-years of using your bare hands, but it is just fine. After switching to pyro developers, I started wearing gloves and am now comfortable enough with them that I wear them for hours at a time and even unload film holders with them on.

Do, however, practice good glove hygiene! Don't touch your face or other skin surfaces with your gloves. Wash and dry your gloved hands thoroughly if you are going to leave the gloves on. Gloves protect your hands, but chemicals (etc.) on the outside of the gloves remain there and are harder to wash off than from skin (something I wish they would teach food-service workers:().

In short, if you use the most benign photochemicals possible, reduce your exposure to a minimum, and have your blood tests regularly (which should show up any extra load on liver, etc.), you should be able to practice photography with little extra complication. I would imagine that a well-run darkroom with good chemical handling practices and ventilation would present much less of an exposure risk than working with industrial cleaners, in an auto-repair shop or, for that matter, refueling your vehicle yourself.

And, do keep asking the professionals until you find someone who is expert enough to give you an informed opinion. That might be rather difficult unless you find a specialist who is also a black-and-white photographer himself.

Best, and good luck


Doremus

[mdm]

I am using Caffenol for 11x14 xray film precisely so that I can use bare hands to lift slippery sheet film, it works very well. However I have not had success using it with conventional tray developed 5x7 sheet film, probably it would work on a sheet by sheet basis but not 10 sheets at a time. Its actually really easy to use and IR viewing devices see right into it as if it was clear water, making development by inspection a cinch. Washing soda, vit c, coffee and iodised salt, all pretty friendly. It does not exhaust easily either, I keep a 2l bottle and mix up 1l fresh every time I use it, then afterwards pour back only 2l into the bottle. Works well so far.

[Drew Wiley]

It's probably impossible to predict all the hypothetical interactions of trace amt of chemicals if hypersensitivity is involved. That being said, most garden-variety black and
white chemicals and pretty innocuous. I'd avoid things like formalin and maybe pyro. But the mere idea of working with anything in the darkroom in this day and age, when disposable nitrile gloves are available all over the place inexpensively, seems outright medieval. Even sodium sulfite, which is put in restaurant salads, can be highly toxic to certain people. Good luck, and hope you can continue darkroom work. There are probably
more dangerous chemicals right in your refrigerator.

[Andrew O'Neill]

Didn't Ansel Adams have some of his tissue examined after he died? I thought I read that somewhere. After all the years of soaking his digits in developers and selenium, nothing of significance showed up.
I will continue to work in the darkroom as long as physically possible. Gloves, ventillation, a resperator (for the naughty stuff) and away I go!

[RichardSperry]

Why wouldn't you use nitrile gloves just to keep the sweat and oils of your hands and fingers off the film?
That alone seemed a good enough reason to start.

After reading about the (anecdotal)correlation between photographic chemicals and Parkinson's Disease or kidney disease, it just makes even more sense.

That pretty much leaves inhalation exposure, right?

[Sevo]

It's probably impossible to predict all the hypothetical interactions of trace amt of chemicals if hypersensitivity is involved.

As a sufferer I can tell you psoriatric arthritis is not hypersensitivity related. It is heritable - most probably genetic, but so far no related gene has been located, and it is not even evident whether it is dominant or recessive. And there are more sporadic occurrences than expected from a genetic disorder, so that other, more exotic causes like a (congenital) prion or virus infection or inheritance through extranuclear DNA aren't ruled out for now.

Just about everything on the planet has been suspected as being able to trigger PSA attacks - on the other hand, that may just as well mean that nothing triggers it and it is indeed striking all of its own. Personally I lean towards the latter, at any rate all the avoidance patterns I once developed proved to be purely superstitious and did not prevent a single recurrence.

MTX may be another matter - particular attention to safe chemistry handling certainly is advisable while on it, as it may multiply the cytotoxic potential of many poisons. But if you are so messy as to ingest photographic chemicals in quantities that can be poisonous you have a pretty general issue, whether with or without MTX and PSA...