Printmaking
Potential Hazards
Physical: cutting, drilling, filing, grinding plates, carving wood and linoleum blocks, and printing with heavy pressure presses.
Chemcials:
- Acids: used to etch zinc, copper, or other metal plates for intaglio printing; to etch the surfaces of lithostones and plates and to process photosensitive emulsions.
- Alkalis: used for cleaning, conditioning, and photosensitizing.
- Dust and powders: found in photochemical, rosin, talc, and whitening.
- Solvents: used to thin and dissolve inks, to clean and prepare plates for printing, and to ahere silkscreen film.
- Photochemical: used to sensitize and develop images on intaglio, silkscreen, and lithography matrices.
When working in the studio, ask yourself:
- Are my eyes straining? Do I need to turn more lights on?
- Am I taking the proper precautions for working with flammable solvents?
- Where is the list of emergency numbers?
- Are the hazardous materials stored properly in unbreakable containers?
- Are the containers labeled and the containers identified?
- Am I wearing gloves when working with solvents and inks?
- Are the presses and additional equipment secured when I am working on them?
The answers to these questions and more will be addressed on this website, with a list of links to manufacturers with safe solutions to studio hazards.
Inks contain a mixture of pigments and dyes suspended in a vehicle and are made workable with materials that think, retard, extend, and dissolve the ink.
Water soluble inks are almost odorless, do not emit unwanted vapors, are mostly nonflammable and nonpolluting, and do not require extensive ventilation.
Some manufacturers include: Hunt Speedball, Naz-Dar, and Shiva.
Solvents:
Turpentine: oleoresin distilled from coniferous trees. Vapors are irritating to the eys and mucous membranes. Repeated exposure has been associated with kidney diseases, pulmonary edema, chronic respiratory.